Greenpeace Found Liable For More Than $660 Million In Relation To Pipeline Protest

A North Dakota jury on Wednesday found Greenpeace liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to a giant pipeline company in relation to protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline nearly a decade ago.
Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners sued Greenpeace in 2019, accusing the environmental group of masterminding the protests, spreading misinformation and causing the company financial loss through damaged property and lost revenues.
After a three-week trial, the 9-person jury took two days to return their verdict, awarding more than $660 million in damages to Energy Transfer.
The result is a huge blow to the 50-year-old environmental organization, which previously said that the case could bankrupt its US operations, and experts say it could have chilling implications for free speech.
“I think this is one of the worst First Amendment decisions in American history,” said Marty Garbus, a civil rights lawyer who has been monitoring the trial. “The decision is beyond comprehension.”
Other experts have criticized the lawsuit as an egregious SLAPP lawsuit — a strategic lawsuit against public participation that seeks to silence critics by burying them in exorbitant legal costs.
“The verdict is a loss for Greenpeace, but more so for the First Amendment right to speak out, and thus for all Americans,” said James Wheaton, founder and senior counsel for the First Amendment Project. “If huge corporations can do this to one they can do it to everyone.”

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/19/climate/greenpeace-found-liable-protests/index.html