See also: US Crude Oil Production On-Target for All-Time Record in Early 2016

There! A person in the know has finally said it.

Fracking is a game-changer in world politics, depriving Russia and the Islamic world of their greatest strategic asset, control of the oil and gas necessary to the prosperity of advanced countries and the survival itself of the poor. So it would make perfect sense for these forces to oppose fracking on any grounds possible, including the use of environmental groups as cat’s paws.

Now, the Secretary-General of NATO has come out and said outright that this is indeed the case with Russia. James Edgar of the UK Telegraph reports:

Russia is secretly working with environmental groups campaigning against fracking in an attempt to maintain Europe's dependence on energy imports from Moscow, the secretary-general of Nato has said.

Speaking at the Chatham House foreign affairs think-tank in London, Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Russia was mounting a sophisticated disinformation campaign aimed at undermining attempts to exploit alternative energy sources such as shale gas.

He said: "I have met allies who can report 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. That is my interpretation."

Mr Rasmussen did not say what form the Russians' engagement with the environmentalists took or whether groups concerned were aware that they were dealing with Moscow's agents.

He said that improving energy security was of the "utmost importance" and required European nations to develop more diverse sources of supply.

Needless to say, the greenies deny any such backing, though, of course, a country with the sophisticated means and experience of Russia would know exactly how to disguise its support so that the dupes in the environmental movement would be unaware of their status as puppets. The righteous indignation so necessary for mass support in fact requires that the operations be kept secret.

Greenpeace dismissed Mr Rasmussen's comments as "preposterous".

Well, not really. As pointed out above, it is quite logical for Russia to seek to block fracking,

A spokesman said: "Greenpeace had thirty of its people locked up in Russian prisons last year, threatened with fifteen years in jail.

"The idea we’re puppets of Putin is so preposterous that you have to wonder what they’re smoking over at Nato HQ.

"Mr Rasmussen should spend less time dreaming up conspiracy theories and more time on the facts.

If someone is smoking something, it might be the greenies. Consider this preposterous allegation:

Andrew Pendleton, the head of campaigns at Friends of the Earth, said: “We’ve consistently urged the Government to end our dependence on dirty fossil fuels from abroad by developing Britain’s home-grown renewable energy.

“Perhaps the Russians are worried about our huge wind and solar potential, and have infiltrated the UK Government.”

Wind and solar are pipe dreams, requiring vast amounts of land, chewing up bird life, and unreliable for base load power, the kind that is necessary to an industrialized society.

Because Russia is led by a former KGB agent, disinformation campaigns are to be expected. Vladimir Putin would be negligent in his responsibilities if he did not covertly back the anti-fracking movement. And those who claim that wind and solar can replace oil and gas forfeit their credibility