Cody Schulz, Director, North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department, Servant Leader | LinkedIn
Cody Schulz, Director, North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department, Servant Leader | LinkedIn
A North Dakota jury has ordered Greenpeace to pay $667 million to Energy Transfer, the Texas company that partially owns the Dakota Access Pipeline. The decision came after the jury found Greenpeace USA liable for defamation, trespass, nuisance, and civil conspiracy. Greenpeace International and Greenpeace Fund Inc. were also found liable for some of these charges.
Greenpeace USA was ordered to pay approximately $404 million in damages, while Greenpeace Fund Inc. and Greenpeace International were each ordered to pay about $131 million. Vicki Anderson Granado, vice president of corporate communications at Energy Transfer, expressed satisfaction with the verdict: "We are very pleased that Greenpeace has been held accountable for their actions against us and that the jury recognized these were not law-abiding, peaceful protests as Greenpeace tried to claim."
The lawsuit followed protests around the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and 2017. The pipeline spans over 1,100 miles across four states and can transport up to 500,000 barrels of crude oil daily. Some protesters claimed it threatened local water supplies and sacred tribal lands.
Greenpeace plans to appeal the decision, arguing that paying even $300 million could end its operations in the United States. Trey Cox, representing Energy Transfer, said that while peaceful protest is a right, violent protest is unlawful.
Cody Schulz from Morton County noted local residents' frustration with protest activities rather than the pipeline itself. Former Rep. Kevin Cramer described how initial peaceful protests had turned into aggressive riots involving out-of-state interests.
This legal outcome coincides with efforts by the Trump administration to increase energy production in the U.S.
Information from this article can be found here.
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