{"id":39921,"date":"2026-03-22T02:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T07:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/greenpeace-organizations-to-appeal-345-million-north-dakota-court-judgment-in-energy-transfers-intimidation-lawsuit\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T02:46:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T07:46:16","slug":"greenpeace-organizations-to-appeal-345-million-north-dakota-court-judgment-in-energy-transfers-intimidation-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/greenpeace-organizations-to-appeal-345-million-north-dakota-court-judgment-in-energy-transfers-intimidation-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Greenpeace organizations to appeal $345 million North Dakota court judgment in Energy Transfer\u2019s intimidation lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Some of the Greenpeace team hold up a banner outside the Morton County Memorial Courthouse in Mandan, North Dakota March 16, 2025. \u00a9 Stephanie Keith \/ Greenpeace<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

MANDAN, N.D. \u2013 Greenpeace organizations in the U.S. and Greenpeace International announce they will seek a new trial and, if necessary, appeal the decision with the North Dakota Supreme Court following a North Dakota District Court judgment today awarding Energy Transfer (ET) $345 million. ET\u2019s SLAPP suit remains a blatant attempt to silence free speech, erase Indigenous leadership of the Standing Rock movement, and punish solidarity with peaceful resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline. Greenpeace International will also continue to seek damages for ET\u2019s bullying lawsuits under EU anti-SLAPP legislation in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpeaking out against corporations that cause environmental harm should never be deemed unlawful,\u201d said Marco Simons, Interim General Counsel at Greenpeace USA and Greenpeace Fund. \u201cIt is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and is essential to the protection of communities and the health of democracy. This is a setback, but the movement to defend people and the planet has always faced setbacks and resistance, and Energy Transfer will fail in its goal of silencing its critics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe absurdity of this judgment can easily be illustrated. These Greenpeace organizations have been held responsible for supposedly delaying a pipeline that to this day does not have legal authority to operate, and which was actually delayed by the decisions of the US Army Corps of Engineers. The judgment includes tens of millions of dollars for signing a letter also signed by 500 other organizations, which echoed statements made in United Nations reports. If the courts still believe in justice, this result will not stand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Court\u2019s final judgment today rejects some of the jury verdict delivered in March 2025, but still awards hundreds of millions of dollars to ET without a sound basis in law. The Greenpeace defendants will continue to press their arguments that the US Constitution does not allow liability here, that ET did not present evidence to support its claims, that the Court admitted inflammatory and irrelevant evidence at trial and excluded other evidence supporting the defense, and that the jury pool in Mandan could not be impartial.<\/p>\n

ET\u2019s back-to-back lawsuits against Greenpeace International and the US organizations Greenpeace USA (Greenpeace Inc.) and Greenpeace Fund are clear-cut examples of SLAPPs \u2014 lawsuits attempting to bury nonprofits and activists in legal fees, push them towards bankruptcy and ultimately silence dissent. Greenpeace International, which is based in the Netherlands, is pursuing justice in Europe, with a suit against ET under Dutch law and the European Union\u2019s new anti-SLAPP directive, a landmark test of the new legislation which could help set a powerful precedent against corporate bullying.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnergy Transfer\u2019s attempts to silence us are failing. Greenpeace International will continue to resist intimidation tactics,\u201d said Mads Christensen, Greenpeace International Executive Director. \u201cWe will not be silenced. We will only get louder, joining our voices to those of our allies all around the world against the corporate polluters and billionaire oligarchs who prioritize profits over people and the planet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith hard-won freedoms under threat and the climate crisis accelerating, the stakes of this legal fight couldn\u2019t be higher. Through appeals in the US and Greenpeace International\u2019s groundbreaking anti SLAPP case in the Netherlands, we are exploring every option to hold Energy Transfer accountable for multiple abusive lawsuits and show all power-hungry bullies that their attacks will only result in a stronger people-powered movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greenpeace USA recently released a meticulously researched report on Energy Transfer\u2019s pattern of pollution and legal violations, documenting hundreds of incidents and violations including four major disasters since September 2024. \u201cIf Energy Transfer thought their lawsuit would silence us, they are seriously mistaken,\u201d said Tim Donaghy, Greenpeace USA Research Director and lead author of the report. \u201cThere\u2019s something wrong with a system that too often lets polluters off the hook but penalizes those who call out harm. Free speech is an essential tool in building a healthier and more sustainable world. If people do not feel free to speak out against those who are polluting the air and water, and whose business model is driving us toward climate collapse, then what chance do we have of enacting solutions to these problems?\u201d<\/p>\n

Energy Transfer\u2019s SLAPPs are part of a wave of abusive lawsuits filed by Big Oil companies like Shell, Total, and ENI against Greenpeace entities in recent years. A couple of these cases have been successfully stopped in their tracks. This includes Greenpeace France successfully defeating TotalEnergies\u2019 SLAPP on 28 March 2024, and Greenpeace UK and Greenpeace International forcing Shell to back down from its SLAPP on 10 December 2024.<\/p>\n

Photos and videos can be accessed from the Greenpeace media library.<\/p>\n

Contacts: Madison Carter, National Press Secretary, Greenpeace USA: mcarter@greenpeace.org, mediausa@greenpeace.org<\/p>\n

The post Greenpeace organizations to appeal $345 million North Dakota court judgment in Energy Transfer\u2019s intimidation lawsuit<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Some of the Greenpeace team hold up a banner outside the Morton County Memorial Courthouse in Mandan, North Dakota March 16, 2025. \u00a9 Stephanie Keith \/ Greenpeace MANDAN, N.D. \u2013 Greenpeace organizations in the U.S. and Greenpeace International announce they will seek a new trial and, if necessary, appeal the <\/p>\n

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