Greenpeace faces huge bill after legal defeat

A jury in North Dakota has decided that the environmental group Greenpeace must pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the pipeline firm Energy Transfer and is liable over defamation and other claims over protests in the state nearly a decade ago.

- Rachel Leingang, Nina Lakhani

Energy Transfer Partners, a Dallas-based oil and gas company worth almost $70bn, sued Greenpeace for $300m for defamation and orchestrating criminal behaviour by protesters at the Dakota Access pipeline in 2016 and 2017, claiming it "incited" people to protest by using a "misinformation campaign".

Greenpeace, which denied the claims, said in a statement after the verdict that lawsuits like this were aimed at "destroying the right to peaceful protest". Constitutional rights experts had expressed fears that the case could have a wider chilling effect on free speech.

The jury found for Energy Transfer on most counts. The environmental group, which had expressed concerns about getting a fair hearing in gas and oil country, said that a loss and enormous financial award could bankrupt their US operation. Energy Transfer sought a payout and sued three Greenpeace entities, claiming that they are a single organisation rather than independent members of the network.

It is unclear if Greenpeace will appeal against the decision. The case has been closely watched by the wider non-profit community and first amendment experts amid concerns it could chill free speech and activism.

"What we saw over these three weeks was Energy Transfer's blatant disregard for the voices of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. And while they also tried to distort the truth about Greenpeace's role in the protests, we instead reaffirmed our unwavering commitment to non-violence in every action we take," said Deepa Padmanabha, Greenpeace's senior legal adviser.