Chip Groat, a respected scientist at The University of Texas at Austin (UT), led a study for UT's Energy Institute on the impact of hydraulic fracturing on groundwater. The study concluded there was no link between fracking and contamination of groundwater. However, Groat did not disclose that, as he conducted the study, he also sat on the board of a Houston-based drilling and fracking company, which had a clear stake in the outcome of the report. He also failed to disclose that the company paid him $400,000 in 2011, and that he received $1.6 million in company stock between 2007 and 2012. Had this information been disclosed, Groat's _____________________ would have been clear to the reading public.

A) moral muteness

B) conflict of interest

C) rationalizations

D) diffusion of responsibility