A leaked transcript of one of Hillary Clinton’s speeches reveals the former Secretary of State suggesting that the Russians are funding organizations that are opposed to fracking.
Here is the relevant passage:
Clinton in secret speech: Anti-fracking and environmental groups are a Russian plot https://t.co/qXA0hzytKg (see email attachment) pic.twitter.com/YBwJTju6fP
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 8, 2016
The aforementioned quote is from a speech Clinton gave on July 2014, where she pointed out that “phony environmental groups” were being “funded by the Russians” to oppose “that fracking.”
In other leaked speech transcripts, Clinton admitted that she wasn’t overly thrilled about fracking but did like the fact that it has been replacing coal as an energy source. She also said that the U.S. is on “a path to surpass Russia in oil and gas production.”
Filmmaker Phelim McAleer pointed out the possible connections between the Russian government and anti-fracking groups in his 2013 film FrackNation. Here is the relevant clip from the film in which British journalist James Delingpole and Financial Times editor Neil Buckley explain how fracking would be detrimental to the Russian government:
“I would say Russia is screwed if it can’t export its gas, so it really is very important for Russia that the shale gas revolution does not happen,” Delingpole said. “It is also in Russia’s best interest to fund those environmental groups which are committed to campaigning against fracking.”
Delingpole cited Poland as an example of “a net importer of gas” that heavily relies on Russia for its gas.
Buckley noted that the European market is dependent on Gazprom, Russia’s state energy giant that has connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin, for gas.
In 2014, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen also suggested that there was a link between the Russian government and anti-fracking groups:
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), and former premier of Denmark, told the Chatham House thinktank in London on Thursday that Vladimir Putin’s government was behind attempts to discredit fracking, according to reports.
Rasmussen said: “I have met allies who can report that Russia, as part of their sophisticated information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called non-governmental organisations – environmental organisations working against shale gas – to maintain European dependence on imported Russian gas.”
He declined to give details of those operations, saying: “That is my interpretation.”
Clinton’s leaked speech transcript all but confirms this link.
In a press release sent to the Daily Wire, McAleer described anti-fracking groups that have received money from the Russian government as “basically acting as paid agents for a hostile foreign power.”
“This is possibly illegal and is most definitely deeply disturbing and unethical,” McAleer said. “The State Department needs to name and shame these groups now.”