Are U.S. Energy Attitudes Shaped By Russian Trolls?

Russian trolls are pitting Americans against energy industry

Merrill, Matthews, April 30, 2018 (The Hill)

“…Russian trolls are actively trying to disrupt U.S. energy markets…[A report from the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology focused] on the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Russian internet troll farm based in St. Petersburg that appears to be at the forefront of Russian cyber-meddling…[found it was exploiting American social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter,] in a concerted effort to disrupt U.S. energy markets and influence domestic energy policy…[It cited public statements from Anders Fogh Rasmussen, then-secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and a former prime minister of Denmark…[and] a January 2017 assessment from the U.S. Director of the Office of National Intelligence…[Russian money reportedly has been channeled through a Bermuda-based shell company known as Klein, Ltd., to various organizations such as the Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters Education Fund] to oppose fracking…According to the World Bank, oil and gas revenue accounts for about 40 percent of the Russian government’s revenues…The U.S. energy boom, made possible by fracking and other innovative drilling techniques, has helped turn the U.S. into the world leader in crude oil and natural gas production, directly threatening Russia’s oil and gas revenues and, by extension, its geopolitical influence…[This] could be shaping — or misshaping — Americans’ views about the energy industry…” click here for more

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