March 19, 2025, Washington, D.C. – Since 2017, the fossil fuel company Energy Transfer has waged a relentless legal attack against Greenpeace USA for its role in supporting the high profile Indigenous-led protests against the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe led these protests, which were joined by thousands of other activists and nonprofit organizations, including Greenpeace. Greenpeace’s role was minor; many protesters were not even aware of their presence. In its lawsuit, however, Energy Transfer claims that Greenpeace incited the protest and is responsible for the $300 million in damages that it claims to have suffered.
Energy Transfer’s lawsuit against Greenpeace is an emblematic example of a “strategic lawsuit against public participation” (SLAPP), a bullying tactic used by the wealthy and powerful to silence their critics. The fossil fuel industry has frequently used SLAPPs against its critics, but Energy Transfer stands out for its especially aggressive tactics.
The Dakota Access Pipeline protests were overwhelmingly peaceful with almost all participants committed to principles of nonviolence. While some isolated acts of property destruction reportedly occurred, there is simply no evidence linking Greenpeace to any of those incidents. Furthermore, much of the $300 million in damages that Energy Transfer claimed were for business costs incurred before Greenpeace ever became involved in the protests.
Nevertheless, on March 19, a jury in Morton County, North Dakota found Greenpeace liable for hundreds of millions of dollars. Greenpeace is expected to appeal to the North Dakota Supreme Court.
Leading civil liberties and free speech organizations have raised alarms about the potential of this lawsuit to create a broad chilling effect on free speech and the right to protest in America. If other states follow North Dakota’s lead in allowing SLAPP suits such as this one to move forward, then corporations will be able to weaponize the legal system to silence their critics’ constitutional rights.
The lead up to the trial, and the trial itself, were mired in irregularities. This includes, but is not limited to, a $3 million donation that Energy Transfer gave to the city of Mandan, where the trial was held, for a public library and downtown plaza three months after filing the lawsuit; a pro-company publication that was distributed to potential jury members in the run-up to the trial; and a jury in which seven out of eleven members had ties to the fossil fuel industry, five openly expressed negative views of the protests, and at least two had spouses who worked on the pipeline. Greenpeace repeatedly requested a change of venue to ensure an impartial jury; those requests were denied by the trial court judge and the North Dakota Supreme Court.
These irregularities, which may amount to a violation of Greenpeace’s right to a fair trial, almost certainly factored into the verdict, and may form the basis of an appeal.
EarthRights proudly joins Greenpeace USA in speaking up against brazen legal attacks and ensuring that the environmental movement only continues to grow stronger, despite the appalling result in North Dakota.
EarthRights International is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that combines the power of law and the power of people to defend human rights and the environment. We envision a world where communities can always pursue justice and accountability, especially in the face of the climate crisis. In this world, people live with power and dignity, while corporations, financial institutions, and governments uphold human rights and protect the environments that sustain these communities.
Learn more at http://www.earthrights.org.
Photo by Richard Bluecloud Castaneda / Greenpeace
