Clinton fracking
At a meeting with environmentalists last year in which they probed Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on renouncing fossil fuels, the former secretary of state dismissed the activists saying they should “get a life.” TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

At a meeting with environmentalists last year in which they probed Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on renouncing fossil fuels, the former secretary of state dismissed the activists saying they should “get a life.” The revelation came about when WikiLeaks dumped more emails from the accounts of Clinton aide John Podesta on Saturday.

A section of Clinton’s meeting with the building trades union in September last year was made public Saturday where she said she defended natural gas and fracking “under the right circumstances.” The meeting occurred at a time when she was fighting a challenge from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

“Bernie Sanders is getting lots of support from the most radical environmentalists because he’s out there every day bashing the Keystone pipeline. And, you know, I’m not into it for that,” Clinton said at the meeting, according to transcripts. “My view is, I want to defend natural gas. I want to defend repairing and building the pipelines we need to fuel our economy. I want to defend fracking under the right circumstances.”

Clinton was also repeatedly asked at rallies if she will put an end to oil and gas drilling on federal lands and to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline.

“I’m already at odds with the most organized and wildest” of the environmental movement, Clinton said. “They come to my rallies and they yell at me and, you know, all the rest of it. They say, ‘Will you promise never to take any fossil fuels out of the earth ever again?’ No. I won't promise that. Get a life, you know.”

The meeting occurred a few weeks before the former secretary of state announced that she opposed the Keystone XL pipeline. She added at the meeting that she would focus on repairing and maintaining the existing natural gas infrastructure.

Sanders and environmentalists have rallied with Clinton after her nomination viewing her as a better choice than her rival Donald Trump when it comes to protecting the environment. The transcript of this meeting might, however, damage this relationship.

WikiLeaks has dumped several batches of emails in recent days and promised to dump more information well beyond the elections. Clinton’s campaign has not confirmed the authenticity of these emails. The campaign has accused the transparency group of working with Russia to undermine Clinton and working to benefit the Republican nominee.

“The world now knows, beyond the shadow of any doubt, that the hack of the Democratic National Committee was carried out by the Russian government in a clear attempt to interfere with the integrity of our elections. The only remaining question is why Donald Trump continues to make apologies for the Russians,” Podesta said in a statement Friday.

“It should concern every American that Russia is willing to engage in such hostile acts in order to help Donald Trump become President of the United States. But even worse, Trump’s own actions suggests he welcomes the help,” he added.