Tuesday, March 27, 2018

U.S. Energy Markets: The Real Russian Meddling the Media Ignores

Who is actively fighting to ensure government policies shutter U.S. nuclear energy facilities; keep domestic coal, natural gas, and oil in the ground; force up energy prices through taxes and regulations; and endanger national security by installing wind farms near military bases? If you answered, "The Sierra Club and its allies," you're correct, though you might be surprised to find that one of the latter is the Russian government.

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology recently issued a report detailing attempts by the Russian government to disrupt U.S. energy markets through social media.

Sifting through thousands of documents from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, committee staff identified Russian accounts linked to the Internet Research Agency, a Saint Petersburg-based company established by the Russian government.

"This report reveals that Russian agents created and spread propaganda on U.S. social media platforms in an obvious attempt to influence the U.S. energy market," said committee Chairman Lamar Smith in a written statement.

The Cardin report referred to many environmental activist groups as "Useful idiots," documenting "The Russian government has invested $95 million in that seek to persuade EU governments to end shale gas exploration" and "Campaign against fracking for natural gas, thereby keeping the EU more dependent on Russian supplies."

Physicist John Droz, founder of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions, says Russian and domestic anti-fossil fuel efforts indicate a mutual hostility toward American prosperity, though the Russians at least want to benefit their own nation.

"Fossil fuel exports account for around 16 percent of Russian GDP, 52 percent of government revenue and 70 percent of Russian exports, so it makes sense that Russian propaganda efforts would be focused on protecting their fragile economy," Droz said.

https://spectator.org/u-s-energy-markets-the-real-russian-meddling-the-media-ignores/

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