October 10 2016
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS on
the paid speaking circuit, Hillary Clinton was far more candid than she has
been in public about her prominent role as Secretary of State in exporting
American-style hydraulic fracturing — the controversial, environmentally
damaging technique best known as fracking — to countries all over the world.
“I’ve promoted fracking in
other places around the world,” she declared during a 2013 paid talk
to Deutsche Bank, adding that she launched a new wing of the State
Department devoted to the initiative.
During a paid speech in Canada
the following year, Clinton touted her role in “accelerating” natural gas
development in Europe, calling attention to Poland’s embrace of fracking as a
positive step.
The contrast with the
rhetoric Clinton has used on the campaign trail is striking. Clinton has rarely
spoken in public of her role selling fracking abroad, and at times positioned
herself as a skeptic of the controversial drilling technique. In the
lead-up to the New York Democratic primary, Clinton’s campaign released a
television advertisement that gave the impression that she has worked to discourage
fracking.
The remarks were quoted in an
attachment to one of the hacked emails belonging
to campaign chairman John Podesta that were posted by WikiLeaks on
Friday. Two
days after we asked Clinton in Manchester, N.H., in January to release
her Goldman Sachs transcripts, Clinton campaign deputy research director Carter
Hutchinson reviewed all her paid speech transcripts in an 80-page
report highlighting potential political fallout. It was sent to
Podesta and other top campaign aides by Tony Carrk, Clinton’s research
director. Carrk did not respond to a request for comment.
Clinton’s decision to use
fracking as a diplomatic tool has been chronicled by Mother
Jones and The
Intercept.
Earlier this year, we obtained
emails from Clinton aides discussing plans to make Poland a “laboratory for
testing whether U.S. success in developing shale gas can be repeated in a different
country.” The emails also revealedefforts
to partner with energy companies such as Chevron and Marathon Oil.
Starting early in her tenure
as Secretary of State, Clinton traveled the globe encouraging foreign countries
to adopt fracking technology.
Clinton has both publicly and
privately explained that she views fracking, under the right circumstances, as
the most environmentally sound method of transitioning away from other fossil
fuels such as oil and coal. She has also said that fracking can make the U.S.
and other nations energy independent, a foreign policy goal that may weaken gas
exporting countries such as Russia.
But in private, Clinton also
asserted that there is a conspiracy of Russian-funded groups attempting to
suppress fracking development.
During a speech to a group in
Canada called tinePublic, Clinton claimed that there are “phony
environmental groups” that are “funded by the Russians to stand against”
fracking.
It wasn’t clear which groups
Clinton was referring to during those remarks. The Clinton campaign has not
responded to a request for comment.
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