Energy Transfer, a Texas pipeline company, has filed a $300 million lawsuit against environmentalist group Greenpeace.
The trial is set to take place in North Dakota, focusing on incidents related to protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline in 2016 and 2017.
The big picture: The trial is seen as an attempt by the pipeline company to silence critics of the oil industry. The lawsuit involves multiple charges including trespass, nuisance, defamation, and coordination of offenses such as vandalism and violence during the protests.
- Greenpeace International, along with its American branch Greenpeace USA and the funding arm Greenpeace Fund Inc., are the primary defendants in the lawsuit. The environmental organization denies the allegations and views the case as an attack on free speech and protest rights.
- Energy Transfer claims that Greenpeace’s actions disrupted the construction of the pipeline and defamed the companies involved in the project. The lawsuit aims to seek damages to be determined during the trial.
Driving the news: The lawsuit has sparked a debate around corporate misuse of the legal system to target critics. Greenpeace representatives argue that such cases hinder the exercise of free speech and aim to keep contentious issues out of public view.
- A previous federal case filed by Energy Transfer in 2017 was dismissed by a judge in 2019. Subsequently, the company filed the current lawsuit in state court to pursue its claims against Greenpeace.
