Jury Gives Decision In North Dakota Pipeline Lawsuit
A North Dakota jury has ruled that Greenpeace is liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages after defaming Energy Transfer and facilitating disruptive protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline project in 2016 and 2017.
The landmark decision, which awards Energy Transfer $667 million, underscores the consequences of activist groups overstepping legal boundaries under the guise of environmental advocacy.
Energy Transfer’s lawsuit, filed in 2019, accused Greenpeace USA, Greenpeace International, and Greenpeace Fund of deliberately spreading misinformation about the pipeline and actively encouraging illegal activities to obstruct its development.
The case highlighted Greenpeace’s role in funding, training, and supplying protesters, as well as its amplification of what Energy Transfer described as false claims regarding the pipeline’s environmental impact and risks to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
“We would like to thank the judge and the jury for the incredible amount of time and effort they dedicated to this trial,” a spokesperson for Energy Transfer stated. “This win is really for the people of Mandan and throughout North Dakota who had to live through the daily harassment and disruptions caused by the protesters who were funded and trained by Greenpeace.”
Greenpeace, on the other hand, framed the verdict as an attack on free speech. Deepa Padmanabha, a senior legal advisor for Greenpeace USA, maintained that the organization remained committed to non-violence, despite the jury’s findings.
The lawsuit marks a turning point in the legal battle between energy companies and environmental activists. While corporations have long faced protests, this ruling signals that organizations promoting unlawful tactics and misinformation may now face significant legal and financial repercussions.
Kelcy Warren, the co-founder of Energy Transfer, has been vocal about holding activist groups accountable. In a 2017 interview, he argued that Greenpeace’s actions delayed the project and cost his company millions. “What they did to us is wrong, and they’re gonna pay for it,” Warren said at the time.
Greenpeace has previously warned that such a judgment could cripple its U.S. operations.