A North Dakota court has determined that Greenpeace will be liable for hundreds of millions of dollars more than the action it takes to fight the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Environmental organizations are liable for around $660 million, according to a readout of the court decision, according to Sushma Raman, interim executive director of Greenpeace USA.
That amount could put Greenpeace at risk of bankruptcy. The group vowed to fight the verdict.
“This is the end of the chapter, but not the end of our battle,” Raman said. “Energy Transfer knows we don't have $660 million. They want our silence, not our money.”
Energy Transfer, the company behind the pipeline that denounced Greenpeace for its honor and trespassing, celebrated the decision.
“We are pleased that Greenpeace is responsible for their actions against us, but this victory really won for people across Mandan and North Dakota who had to overcome the daily harassment and chaos caused by protesters funded and trained by Greenpeace,” the company said.
“It's also a victory for all law-abiding Americans who understand the difference between free speech and the right to break the law. It's a victory for all of us that the missing person is responsible,” the company's statement continued.
Greenpeace claims it played only a small role in the protest, which attracted a large crowd who opposed the project.
The group argued that the case was a strategic lawsuit against public participation lawsuits and an attempt to silence critics.
“This is a matter of freedom of speech. It's a First Amendment case,” Greenpeace spokesman Madison Carter said in an interview before the verdict.
She expressed concern that the verdict on Greenpeace will “have a calm effect on organizations interested in advocacy.”
