There are substantial and legitimate questions about inappropriate influences affecting decision-making concerning climate change policy. Both Russia and China have been credibly implicated.
Energy is clearly the basic foundation of Russia’s power, particularly in Europe. The Kremlin clearly benefits from limiting production of energy in other nations. An American Military News analysis notes that “[There is an] indisputable fact that energy is the foundation of Russia’s power and influence. And that a hesitancy has existed by some of our allies in Europe and elsewhere to take truly bold actions against Vladimir Putin because they depend on Russian oil and gas.”
Moscow’s need to dominate the world’s energy supply has led to its extraordinary measures to limit production in other nations. The Gatestone Institute believes that Russia has been financing western environmentalism. It reports that Fogh Rasmussen, former NATO Secretary General, stresses 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.”
Influence over American environmental groups exists as well. “On March 11, 2022,” notes Gatestone, “US Representatives Jim Banks and Bill Johnson sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, asking for an investigation into the reported Russian manipulation of American “green groups” that are seemingly funded with “dark money” (anonymous donations). “Russia spent millions promoting anti-energy policies and politicians in the U.S. … Unlike the Russia hoax, Putin’s malign influence on our energy sector is real and deserves further investigation,” Banks said to Fox News Digital.”
“Hence the interest, for the Russian government, in mounting a vast disinformation campaign against shale gas and nuclear power in the West, by massively financing the groups most likely “naturally” to oppose it: environmentalist organizations.”
In 2017, Representatives Lamar Smith and Randy Weber asked then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to act against Russia’s funding of anti-fracking campaigns in the U.S.
Influencing western movements is a tried and true tactic for the Kremlin. A Warontherocks article notes that “…the Soviets used front organizations to influence the anti-nuclear movement, the initiative that most visibly put Western leadership on the defensive. West German Interior Ministry and FBI reports concluded that Soviet-linked organizations were successfully swaying local peace movement initiatives to conform to Moscow’s positions. In 1982, the U.S. affiliate of the World Peace Council, a Soviet front, showed Moscow’s ability to secretly influence a United Nations special session on disarmament by persuading the committee coordinating the massive protests to focus the movement on U.S. and NATO rather than all (read: Soviet) missiles as the real threat.”
Russia’s interest is matched by China. China is the major builder and exporter of wind turbines. An EVWIND analysis notes that . “In Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) 2020 ranking of global wind turbine manufacturers, 7 of the top 10 wind turbine manufacturers are Chinese companies…In addition, China commissioned 98% of the newly installed capacity from wind turbine manufacturers.”
It’s not just wind turbines. A Foreign Policy Review notes that “In 2019, China made 80 percent of the world’s supply of solar panels.”
A CSIS study notes that “the international community should be assured that China is … leading the world in one particular sector: deployment and investment in renewable energy. China is already leading in renewable energy production figures. It is currently the world’s largest producer of wind and solar energy,9and the largest domestic and outbound investor in renewable energy.Four of the world’s five biggest renewable energy deals were made by Chinese companies in 2016. As of early 2017, China owns five of the world’s six largest solar-module manufacturing companies and the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer.”
An American Military News analysis notes that “[There is an] indisputable fact that energy is the foundation of Russia’s power and influence. And that a hesitancy has existed by some of our allies in Europe and elsewhere to take truly bold actions against Vladimir Putin because they depend on Russian oil and gas.”
Moscow and Beijing have warped environmental concerns into a partisan weapon, leading to bad decisions that harm both individuals and nations.
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