Greenpeace convicted: 660 million dollars for pipeline protests
Due to a defamatory campaign, Greenpeace must pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to a US pipeline company.
The environmental organization Greenpeace has been ordered by a court in the US state of North Dakota to pay several hundred million dollars in damages to the operator of an oil pipeline.
A spokeswoman for the non-governmental organization announced this.
A jury in the US state of North Dakota ruled that the organization is liable for defamation and other charges related to protests against a controversial oil pipeline several years ago. Greenpeace itself announced that several units of the organization had been ordered to pay more than 660 million dollars (more than 605 million euros).
Pipeline operator Energy Transfer had sued Greenpeace for damages over protests against the pipeline, which runs through territories of Sioux tribes. Energy Transfer had accused the environmental organization of conducting a violent and defamatory campaign. Greenpeace criticized the legal proceedings as serving to “silence” the organization.
Obama put the project on ice, Trump gave the green light
The nearly 1’900-kilometer Dakota Access Pipeline was put into operation in 2017. It connects oil fields in the state of North Dakota with a distribution hub in the state of Illinois.
US President Donald Trump had given the green light for the pipeline to become operational during his first term in office. Under his predecessor Barack Obama, the project had been put on ice.
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and the neighboring Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, who have sacred sites in the area, had taken legal action against the pipeline. They not only denounced a desecration of the land, but also feared that drinking water could be contaminated by leaks in the pipeline. The pipeline runs under a lake, among other things. More on Environmental and Nature Conservation.
SLAPP Lawsuits as a Weapon Against Environmentalists
Big Oil Bullies around the world will continue to try to silence free speech and peaceful protests, but the fight against Energy Transfer's unfounded SLAPP lawsuit is still not over. “We are witnessing a catastrophic return to the reckless behavior that fueled the climate crisis, deepened environmental racism, and placed fossil fuel profits above public health and a livable planet.”
“We will not be silenced,” said Mads Christensen, Executive Director of Greenpeace International. “This case should alarm everyone, regardless of their political leanings,” said Sushma Raman, Interim Executive Director of Greenpeace Inc. “It is part of a renewed corporate assault on using our courts as a weapon to silence dissent.”
The major oil companies Shell, Total, and ENI have also filed SLAPPs against Greenpeace organizations in recent years. Some of these cases have been successfully stopped. For example, Greenpeace France successfully fended off TotalEnergies’ SLAPP on March 28, 2024, and Greenpeace UK and Greenpeace International forced Shell to withdraw its SLAPP on December 10, 2024.
“We will see Energy Transfer in court in the Netherlands in July of this year. We will not back down. We will not be silenced,” said Kristin Casper, General Counsel of Greenpeace International. In February 2024, Greenpeace International initiated the first test of the European Union’s Anti-SLAPP Directive by filing a lawsuit against Energy Transfer before a Dutch court. More on Animal Rights and environmental protection.
