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Dakota Access Pipeline SLAPP lawsuit to bankrupt Greenpeace USA has started [1]

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Date: 2025-02-25

You may have heard the threats. Well, it’s true. Dakota Access Pipeline developer Energy Transfer has followed through with a $300 million lawsuit aimed squarely at destroying environmental champions Greenpeace USA once and for all. The jury trial convened on Monday in Mandan, ND and is expected to last 5 weeks. Greenpeace USA admits that losing the lawsuit would likely force them to bankruptcy.

You surely recall the valiant protests in 2016/2017 at Standing Rock Reservation aimed at stopping the Dakota Access Pipeline from putting sacred sites, water and the communities that depend on it at risk.

Well, Greenpeace tried to help the protesters. And Energy Transfer didn’t like that one bit, so they brought a nuisance lawsuit against Greenpeace in North Dakota, one of the handful of states that do not have an anti-SLAPP law to prevent frivolous lawsuits.

"This case is simple. Big Oil wants to silence its critics," says Sushma Raman, interim executive director of Greenpeace USA. Raman claims Energy Transfer is "abusing the legal system to silence critics" by filing a "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation" (SLAPP) case. ... North Dakota is among the 15 states that do not have anti-SLAPP laws, which make it easier to get such cases dismissed and recover costs from plaintiffs that file them. That means even if Greenpeace wins this case it will cost the organization attorney fees and other costs. Greenpeace has not disclosed how much it has spent on the case so far, but says it's "in the millions." The group hopes a win will dissuade other companies from filing similar cases in the future.

Greenpeace goes on to list 3 big potential consequences if they lose the $300 million lawsuit:

Undermine Indigenous sovereignty at Standing Rock: The case alleges that Greenpeace orchestrated the entire resistance movement at Standing Rock, which is obviously false and seeks to erase the truth of this powerful Indigenous-led movement. Establish new case law that could hold people and organizations responsible for the actions of unknown individuals if they have any involvement in a protest. The chilling impact this could have on protest in this country would be profound. Destroy a 50+ year old environmental organization with an incomparable track record of exposing the truth about corporate polluters: Energy Transfer originally sued Greenpeace offices for $900 million using the RICO statute - a legal tool used to prosecute the mob. While RICO charges have been thrown out, the case still seeks $300 million in damages. The aim of this suit is to put us out of business, put a halt to our high impact campaigns, and scare others into silence.

This is just one more attempt by Big Oil and big money to silence resistance to their greed. And in times such as these, where our very democracy is under attack by billionaire oligarchs, it is our institutions that we must defend! We cannot let them get away with it. We need fighters like Greenpeace and Planned Parenthood and ACLU and so many more to defend our right to exist in peace on this planet.

Please spare a moment to consider if you can help:

Sorry, don’t mean to be alarmist, just trying to get the word out and hadn’t seen the start of the trial covered here.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/25/2306290/-Dakota-Access-Pipeline-SLAPP-lawsuit-to-bankrupt-Greenpeace-USA-has-started?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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