Energy Sec Granholm Pushes Back on Tucker Carlson’s Nord Stream Conspiracy: Russia ‘Seems’ Behind the Sabotage

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm pushed back on Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s conspiracy about Monday’s explosions from the Nord Stream pipelines, causing leaks.

Nord Stream 2 is a completed — but inactive — pipeline that goes from Russia to Germany. Nord Stream 1 has carried gas from Russia to Germany since 2011.

Granholm told the BBC on Friday that it “seems” Russia was behind “an act of sabotage.”

She also said that “Russia has proven itself to be an unreliable energy partner.”

Granholm continued, “No country wants to take the risk of putting a significant amount of its energy demand to Russia’s supply. I think this accelerates the EU’s push to become energy independent through clean energy.”

On Tuesday, Carlson cast doubt on Russia causing the leaks.

“If you are Vladimir Putin, you’d have to be a suicidal moron to blow up your own energy pipeline. That’s one thing you would never do,” he said. “Natural gas pipelines are the main source of your power and wealth, and most critically your leverage over other countries. Europe needs your energy, now more than ever with winter approaching. If you can’t deliver that energy, then countries like Germany have no need to pay attention to what you want.”

“It is true that blowing up Nord Stream does not help Vladimir Putin. He would not do that,” added Carlson. “Why would he? But that doesn’t mean that other countries wouldn’t consider doing it. They would consider it.”

Carlson suggested that the United States was behind the explosions. He played a soundbite of President Joe Biden warning in February that if Russia invades Ukraine there would “no longer” be Nord Stream 2. “If Russia invades – that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine again – then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2,” said Biden then. “We will bring an end to it.”

“I promise you, we will be able to do it,” Biden told a reporter when asked how.

The clip from Carlson’s Tuesday segment was reportedly aired multiple times on Russia State television.

Julia Davis, a Russian media news monitor, and columnist for The Daily Beast, crafted a montage of subtitled clips wherein Russian journalist Artyom Sheynin said Carlson was “reaching interesting conclusions” with his remarks. Sheynin then turned to Alexander Kozakov as he said, “you’re probably communicating with him on Twitter.”

Fox News reported that the CIA warned German intelligence months ago about signs of an imminent potential attack on Nord Stream. Also, Granholm is not alone in suggesting the Nord Stream explosions were an act of Russian self-sabotage. There are four total pipelines associated with both Nord Stream 1 and 2, and the explosion disrupted three of the four, leaving one operational if sanctions were to be lifted

Writing for Geopolitical Futures, Ryan Bridges asked, “Who else with the capability and opportunity to destroy these four pipelines would leave one intact?” He went on to report:

Russian state TV blamed the CIA, and indeed the U.S. does have an interest in severing Russia’s gas connections with Europe, depriving Russia of some of its gas leverage and ensuring that Moscow takes the fall for the attack. But such a sabotage operation against an ally’s multibillion-euro project would be extremely high risk for the United States. It would be much less risky for Russia, which owns the pipelines and whose officials for months have said that their country is indirectly at war with the West. More important, if the U.S., Ukraine or another country interested in damaging Russia were to undertake such a high-risk operation, it would surely destroy all four connections. Only Russia stands to gain from the preservation of one link.

Why would Russia blow up its own pipelines? To demonstrate to Europe that its sanctions aren’t working, and that the Kremlin is serious about shifting its energy exports to Asia and dumping the European market – while, conveniently, leaving one connection open in case Europe changes course. To spook energy markets and drive up European prices, weakening the public’s resolve. (Dutch gas futures shot up by some 20 percent on Tuesday.) And to remind European governments that they have vulnerabilities Russia hasn’t even begun to exploit. Notably, a 10 bcm Norway-to-Poland pipeline that runs near the Danish island of Bornholm, near where the Nord Stream explosions occurred, was launched on Tuesday.

Nord Stream 2 was sanctioned by the United States and was suspended by Germany in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.