A jury has just ruled that Greenpeace must pay $600 million in damages to the fossil fuel company Energy Transfer. The environmental pressure group was a part of protests against a pipeline that would have cut through sacred Sioux land.
For a company worth $70 billion, the damages from these protests would be minimal. So the case was never about money, it was about squashing those brave enough to speak against big oil.
The Sioux tribe of North Dakota was protesting the construction of an oil pipeline through the Standing Rock Reservation. Greenpeace only got involved because the Standing Rock Sioux asked for their help. As this is their policy for taking part in protests.
Waniya Locke from the Standing Rock tribe and participant in the protests believes the lawsuit is “part of a coordinated attack on communities organizing to protect their water and futures from big oil”.
The trial has been called a Slapp trial by legal experts and advocacy groups. A Slapp trial is a strategic lawsuit against public participation. People who file these lawsuits aim to intimidate, silence and even bankrupt their opponents. It is a form of legal harassment and just happened right now.
The trial was unfair from the start. The jury told the judge that they might not be able to be fair to Greenpeace. One juror even thought the concept of protesting was “kind of dumb”. The judge allowed the jury to stay anyway. The entire jury was also entirely white, despite the trial focusing on indigenous rights. The judge also received money from fossil fuel industry donors.
The potential bankruptcy of Greenpeace in America has dire consequences. With the Trump Administration repealing environmental protections and pushing their “drill baby drill” campaign, environmental damage will worsen. This would demand more action from pressure groups, which could lead to more SLAPP trials. This trial could be the start of a vicious cycle if nothing is done.
The jury was misled throughout the trial. Greenpeace was named the spearhead of the protests, but it was actually the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Energy Transfer also accused Greenpeace of terrorism and racketeering.
“Activists should be removed from the gene pool”
The CEO of Energy Transfer Kelcy Warren himself said that activists “should be removed from the gene pool”. His attitude towards activism encapsulates the ethos of this trial.
If trials like this continue to happen, movements like Greenpeace could be wiped out.
Pressure groups that cause change will be lost, and the people who got rid of them will have their way.
James Gion, the judge, was almost as corrupt as Energy Transfer. He refused to move the case to another county, despite 97% of residents saying they would not be able to view Greenpeace fairly. And 75% of residents voted for Trump. As well as forbid a livestream of the trial, despite it being in the public interest.
Because of North Dakota’s lack of anti-slapp laws, this trial was able to go through.
The senator from North Dakota Kevin Cramer said justice had been served and they will “think twice” before protesting again. This kind of language obviously indicates the ulterior motive the people behind this lawsuit had.
The judge, state government and Energy Transfer are essentially admitting that the charges were pressed to take Greenpeace out.
“We will not back down”
But there is always hope. Greenpeace is appealing to the North Dakota supreme court to change the verdict and with the blatant bias against them, they have a chance. According to legal experts.
The injustice of the trial will not be lost on the supreme court.
And with the power of the people democracy and free speech could stay alive. We will just have to fight harder for it now.
The leadership of Greenpeace may be worried about the future, but they remain determined and optimistic.
Sushma Raman, the acting executive officer for Greenpeace USA does not see defeat yet. “You can’t bankrupt a movement.”
“They blew wind into our sails and we grew bigger and stronger than ever before. We will not back down. We will not be silenced.” Mads Christensen, the Executive Director of Greenpeace wrote.
Featured image credit: Gosse Bouma Greenpeace
Third year journalism student. 2025/2026 Lifestyle and Comment Editor at Brig. Published in The Yucatán Times, Mi Campeche and The Mourning Paper. Host of From the 40s with Air3Radio.
