A jury in North Dakota has ruled that Greenpeace must pay millions of dollars in damages to a major pipeline company for the organization's involvement in protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline project nearly a decade ago. The verdict is a heavy blow to the 50-year-old environmental organization and has sparked widespread concerns about freedom of speech.
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03-20, 2025Energy Transfer Partners, a Dallas-based company, sued Greenpeace in 2019, seeking $300 million (approximately A$471.4 million). The company accused Greenpeace of orchestrating protests, spreading false information, and causing financial losses through property damage and lost revenue. After a three-week trial, the nine-member jury deliberated for two days before reaching its verdict.
Civil rights lawyer Marty Garbus, who has been following the trial, stated, "I think this is one of the worst First Amendment decisions in American history. The verdict is incomprehensible." Other experts have also criticized the lawsuit as a blatant abuse of "Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation" (SLAPP), designed to silence critics by burdening them with exorbitant legal fees.
James Wheaton, founder and senior counsel of the First Amendment Project, said, "This verdict is not just a loss for Greenpeace, but a loss for the free speech rights of all Americans. If large corporations can do this to one organization, they can do it to everyone." It is currently unclear whether Greenpeace will appeal the decision.
The lawsuit revolves around protests in 2016 and 2017 against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. The Standing Rock Sioux strongly opposed the pipeline, claiming it would endanger the Missouri River (their water source) and desecrate sacred tribal lands. Thousands of people, including representatives from over 100 tribes and dozens of non-profit organizations, participated in the months-long protests. Energy Transfer accused Greenpeace of implementing a plan to stop the pipeline's construction.
Energy Transfer's lawyer, Trey Cox, accused the organization in opening statements of funding outsiders to come to the area to protest, organizing protestor trainings, and publishing defamatory statements about the pipeline. Cox said in a statement, "Today, the jury delivered a resounding verdict that Greenpeace’s actions were wrongful, unlawful, and unacceptable by societal standards. This is a day of reckoning and accountability for Greenpeace."
Greenpeace, on the other hand, stated that the accusation was a veiled attack on freedom of speech and protest, and an attempt to hold the organization responsible for everything that happened during protests attended by thousands of people, most of whom had no connection to Greenpeace. The organization's lawyers argued that it only played a minor role in the protests, teaching non-violent direct action skills at the request of indigenous organizers. Regarding the alleged defamatory statements, Greenpeace argued that these claims had already been widely reported in the media before it made its comments.
Deepa Padmanabha, Senior Legal Counsel at Greenpeace USA, said, "We should all be concerned about the future of the First Amendment and lawsuits like this that are designed to undermine our right to peacefully protest and speak out." Last month, Greenpeace International, based in the Netherlands, filed a lawsuit against Energy Transfer in a Dutch court, utilizing EU anti-SLAPP legislation, seeking to recover damages and costs incurred by the organization as a result of the company's lawsuit.
Kristin Casper, General Counsel of Greenpeace International, said in a statement, "The fight against big oil is not over today, and we know that truth and the law are on our side. Greenpeace International will continue to fight for the future of Greenpeace. Energy Transfer has not heard the last of us in this fight."
