Environmental groups colluding with Russia to restrict US energy production

Kevin Mooney:

The Russian meddling in the US that you haven't heard about

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... Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, the outgoing chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, has asked the Treasury Department to investigate the “paperless money trail” that flows from President Vladimir Putin’s Russian government into the coffers of U.S. environmental groups for the purpose of funding propaganda campaigns against the process of hydraulic fracturing and the natural gas development that innovative drilling techniques make possible. In response to my media inquiries, the Treasury Department has acknowledged receiving Smith’s letter, but department officials have not said that they are pursuing an investigation. The FOIA request names individual department employees who would have responsibilities in the areas discussed in the letter.

Given all the media interest in the allegations of Russian interference with U.S. elections, shouldn’t there be at least as much focus and attention on Russian interference with the U.S. energy sector? Of course, the problem of Russian interference is not limited to the U.S. The Poles have their own long history with Russian aggression and Russian manipulation of energy markets. That’s one reason they are now joining with other European nations to set up import terminals for the purpose of receiving U.S. natural gas that can free them from dependence on Russia.
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Stopping this Russian collusion with environmentalists should be a matter of US national security.  The Russians have at least two goals.  They want to make the US weaker and more dependent on imported energy and they also want to make it harder for their current customers to get alternative sources of energy.