George Osborne is masterminding an effort to undermine the coalition's commitment to be the greenest government ever, a senior Tory has claimed.
In a video secretly filmed by Greenpeace and seen by The Huffington Post UK, Tory MP Peter Lilley says the chancellor "privately regrets all the [green] commitments that have been made".
"Basically I think Osborne wanted to get people into key positions who could begin to get the government off the hook from commitments they made very foolishly," Lilley says.
However Lilley, who sits on the Commons climate change committee, told The Huffington Post UK he was "not filmed surreptitiously" and he would have happily given an interview making the same points if Greenpeace had asked.
"Typical Greenpeace - wedded to deceit," he added.
Lilley was also highly critical of Tory energy minister Greg Barker in the video, who he describes as "barking" and "a complete nutter" within the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
Greg Barker has been an advocate for the green agenda within the Tory party, saying last month that renewable energy would be a major source of economic growth and of job creation.
A spokesman for the DECC refused to comment on "personal insults".
Before the election, David Cameron made a pledge to be "the greenest government ever" a key part of his attempts to detoxify the Tory brand.
However, critics have questioned the sincerity of the government's commitments, particularly since Osbourne referred to the green lobby as the "environmental Taliban".
On Wednesday The Guardian published sections from the same video which showed Tory MP Chris Heaton-Harris boasting he had encouraged anti-wind farm columnist James Delingpole to stand in the Corby by-election.
In another section of the film, Heaton-Harris also has harsh words for Barker, who he suggests only has his job in DECC because he is friends with the prime minister.
"He's away with the fairies but he is very close to David Cameron. He's a best mate type," Heaton-Harris says. "Cameron is nothing other than loyal to his mates. Greg Barker was one of the first two or three that helped him when he was starting his leadership campaign."
But Heaton-Harris is more positive about recently promoted Tory ministers who he believe share his anti-wind farm agenda who he said could keep Lib Dem energy secretary Ed Davey from controlling policy.
“It’s looking a lot better with [environment secretary] Owen Paterson and [energy minister] John Hayes. I’ve still got Ed Davey to dump on from a height from somewhere," he says.
“So Number 10 helped John Hayes, so actually Ed Davey’s got the 'strategic' stuff, so he can go and talk bollocks around the world, where John Hayes is in charge of deployment.
“John Hayes who is energy minister is on my side. He was helping as a minister last time, but his portfolio didn’t match anything that was useful, but then when he got shuffled across he became really useful.”
Hayes made headlines last month when he said “enough is enough” for onshore wind farms.
Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes said his party would not let Tory MPs or ministers disrupt the green agenda.
"Some Conservatives are clearly so hell bent on disrupting the Coalition’s green agenda that they’re prepared to stab their own candidates in the back to do it," he said.
"The Coalition’s position on wind farms and green energy will not change because the Liberal Democrats will not let it. We are committed to making this the greenest government ever.
He added: "The Conservatives should be in no doubt: we will hold them to their promises on the environment."
On the eve of the Corby by-election, Labour seized on the chance to. Michael Dugher MP, the vice-chair of the party said Heaton-Harris should be suspended from the Tory party.
"Even the Tory campaign manager doesn't think people should be supporting the Conservative candidate. If Chris Heaton-Harris doesn’t have faith in the Tory candidate and his party, the public shouldn't," he sad.
"Last week the Tories withdrew the whip from Nadine Dorries for going on I'm A Celebrity. For a Tory MP to support a rival candidate in a by-election in order to try and change government policy is surely an even more serious betrayal of his party. David Cameron should show some leadership."
Greenpeace said Lilley and Heaton-Harris' comments showed there was a "militant faction of anti-green Conservatives" likely to include the chancellor who were determined to roll back the government's green commitments.
Friends of the Earth said in a statement: "The Prime Minister must stamp out plots within the Tory Party that seriously threaten jobs and investment in clean energy.
"John Hayes must be forced to stop undermining renewable power, and if he doesn’t listen, the Prime Minister should pull the plug on his Energy Minister.
"David Cameron played a key role in opposition to secure the UK’s ground-breaking Climate Change Act – he must stand up to maverick elements in the Conservative Party who want to destroy it."
The Huffington Post UK contacted the Treasury for comment and is still awaiting a response.