Greenpeace is embroiled in a high-stakes legal battle with Energy Transfer, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, which could ultimately threaten the environmental group's survival in the US. After a North Dakota jury earlier this year mandated that Greenpeace pay Energy Transfer close to $670 million for alleged trespassing, defamation, and conspiracy tied to pipeline protests, the award was later cut to about $345 million, per the New York Times. Greenpeace USA's share was reduced to about $280 million, while Greenpeace International, based in Amsterdam, was left owing about $65 million. But the verdict has yet to be finalized, leaving Greenpeace in limbo.
Meanwhile, Greenpeace International is countersuing Energy Transfer in the Netherlands under a new EU directive targeting SLAPP lawsuits, or litigation meant to silence critics. "Energy Transfer won't be able to bully its way out of facing accountability for its attacks on free speech," Mads Christensen, Greenpeace International's executive director, said in a September release.
Energy Transfer is now asking North Dakota's Supreme Court to block the Greenpeace complaint, arguing that it undermines US legal authority. Legal experts call this an unusual move, as US courts rarely intervene in foreign lawsuits. Enforcing such an order would be tricky, especially if Greenpeace International has no assets in North Dakota. "What Greenpeace would have to worry about is whether any jurisdiction in which it has assets would be willing to enforce that order," says Columbia Law School professor George Bermann, per the Times.
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Energy Transfer, led by billionaire Kelcy Warren, insists Greenpeace should be held accountable for what it claims were unlawful protests in 2016 and 2017. But Greenpeace maintains its involvement was limited to supporting peaceful demonstrations and signing a letter urging financiers to back away from the pipeline. If the Dutch court sides with Greenpeace, Energy Transfer could face financial penalties in Europe. The pipeline continues to face opposition from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which says it threatens their water supply and sovereignty.
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