Former chairman of Northern Rock and Conservative peer Viscount Matt Ridley has been accused of lobbying the UK government on behalf of the coal industry despite denials to the contrary . An email from Ridley to Energy Minister Lord Bourne in 2010 suggested a UK - based company experimenting with turning coal emissions into fossil fuel stocks could be of interest to the Department of Energy and Climate Change . The company name is redacted but it tells Ridley that it: “received the largest grant of the six beneficial reuse carbon capture projects that the DOE [US Department of Energy] is supporting with funds made available through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act”, the same phrase used by US company Skyonics in an earlier press release. The peer , who is on the advisory council of climate - sceptic think tank the Global Warming Policy Foundation , also expressed hostility to wind power in the email .
Former chairman of Northern Rock and Conservative peer Viscount Matt Ridley has been accused of lobbying the UK government on behalf of the coal industry despite denials to the contrary . An email from Ridley to Energy Minister Lord Bourne in 2010 suggested a UK - based company experimenting with turning coal emissions into fossil fuel stocks could be of interest to the Department of Energy and Climate Change . The peer , who is on the advisory council of climate - sceptic think tank the Global Warming Policy Foundation , also expressed hostility to wind power in the email .