In 2014, United States presidential candidate Hillary Clinton purportedly accused the Russians of running fake anti-fracking and environmentalist groups who were trying to upend major projects such as the Keystone XL pipeline.

According to Sputnik International, Wikileaks reportedly uncovered a paid-for speech made in 2014 by the former Secretary of State in front of an audience of “North American oil and natural gas tycoons.”

“We were up against Russia pushing oligarchs and others to buy media. We were even up against phony environmental groups, and I’m a big environmentalist, but these were funded by the Russians to stand against any effort, oh that pipeline, that fracking, that whatever will be a problem for you, and a lot of the money supporting that message was coming from Russia,” Clinton allegedly said.

Those words suggest that Hillary Clinton was aware of a Russian strategy to undermine fracking and oil in general in the U.S. back in 2014—a theory that had been raised by others in the past, including NATO, but denounced by Greenpeace, who touted the theory as “preposterous.” The theory is that Russia has long been trying to undermine U.S. energy efforts, including fracking and pipelines.

This is not the first time the Russian government has been accused of using propaganda to advance their own energy concerns in Europe: one revolves around territorial disputes in the Ukraine.

“Recent reports about the intention of the Italian company Eni to drill shale gas exploration wells in Ukraine were accompanied by an explosion of critical publications on environmental issues comparing shale gas production with the Chernobyl disaster,” according to an analysis in March by Stratfor.

According to WikiLeaks documents, Clinton has vigorously supported fracking in the past “…with the new technology known as fracking, we are truly on a path -- and it's not just United States; it's all of North America -- that will be net energy exporters assuming we do it right."

But beginning with the Democratic presidential primary, Clinton was quick to criticize fracking. In a March debate, Clinton claimed she would oppose the technique in local communities and states that were against it, if it causes pollution, or if the chemicals used aren’t disclosed.

“By the time we get through all of my conditions, I do not think there will be many places in America where fracking will continue to take place,” said Clinton in a 2016 Rally in Flint, Michigan.

By Erwin Cifuentes for Oilprice.com

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