Conclusion? "According to one of our interviewees," the report said, "if the European Union started to extract shale gas, Russia would suffer great losses, as it is financially dependent on the EU imports of Russian gas. That is why the Russian government has invested 82 million euros in various NGOs which were meant to convince EU governments to stop working on extracting shale gas. "
Bell alarm. A little too late
The Martens Center report is perhaps the loudest voice from Europe. Much more has happened and is happening in this field in the United States. As early as 2017, Lamar Smith and Randy Weber, two Republican congressmen, asked then-Treasury Minister Steven Mnuchin to investigate Russia's ties to the anti-fracking groups. A year later, the Congress report spoke of the efforts made by European environmental organizations to maintain Europe's dependence on Russian oil and gas. Most recently, Republicans from the House of Representatives energy and trade committee (more than 20 MPs in total) demanded that the environmental organizations mentioned earlier in the article explain the nature of their ties to the Sea Change.
"For our national security, and this is a vital issue, we need to know if Vladimir Putin, the Russian government, and Putin's allies are meddling in America's energy security," said Cathy McMorris Rodgers, committee chairman, Fox News.
The Martens Center report, and probably the only source which mentions the amount for which Russia bought European eco-activists, but in general it is the financing mechanism that has not been fully traced - although it is clear to everyone that Russia spares no money for such strategic goals.
According to the experts, such as the aforementioned Michael Shellenberger or Merrill Matthews from the Institute for Policy Innovation in Dallas, it is a complicated matter (on purpose of course). Russian money is to go to companies in one of the tax havens (for example to Klein Ltd. in Bermuda, which congressmen Smith and Weber write about in their letter to Minister Mnuchin), then they donate it to an American organization such as Sea Change, and it, in turn, distributes the funds to end-users, who know very well what to do next.
According to Michael Shellenberger, the rising costs of energy resources, coupled with the dependence on external factors - that is, Europe's dependence on Russian oil and gas - constitute the largest energy crisis since 1973. And yet everything that happened was easy to predict. "For rational people," he told Fox News, "it was plain to see." After all, prosperity, sovereignty, and independence in the field of energy are closely related. I just hope that what we are dealing with now becomes a wake-up call. "
Congressman Jim Banks said it straight: Moscow-funded eco-activists are responsible for the fact that the West today is not able to respond to Russia's attack on Ukraine as it should. "Organizations such as the Sierra Club which took millions of dollars from Russian oligarchs," he said, "have undermined our strength and our capabilities."
– Teresa Stylińska
– Translated by Sally Jastrzębska
TVP WEEKLY. Editorial team and jornalists