Mandan, North Dakota, In the first hearing since the trial concluded in Energy Transfer’s bullying lawsuit against Greenpeace International and Greenpeace in the US, the defendants argued to reduce the more than USD$660 million damages awarded to Energy Transfer. Arguments included the fact that damages awarded exceed what is allowed by the law and bear no reasonable relationship to Energy Transfer’s alleged damages.

Kristin Casper, General Counsel, Greenpeace International said: “While the court reserved its ruling on today’s motions and did not enter a final judgment, we presented compelling arguments to reduce the perverse damages the jury awarded. Regardless of the outcome, Greenpeace International is committed to exhausting all legal avenues to challenge and overturn any outcome that violates our rights.”

Deepa Padmanabha, Senior Legal Advisor, Greenpeace USA said: “Our fight is far from over. Today’s hearing was another step in this important legal battle to protect the rights to protest and free speech, especially as we are witnessing unprecedented attacks on these rights. As we await the court’s decision on our motion to reduce the damages award, we will continue to fight back against all attempts to silence and intimidate those speaking truth to power.” 

The next hearing on 27 May 2025 will address renewed requests by Greenpeace defendants for the Court to rule in their favor — despite the jury reaching a different conclusion — because the evidence presented at trial was legally insufficient to rule in Energy Transfer’s favor. Other post-trial matters could also be raised and argued at the upcoming hearing.

ENDS

Notes: 

In February 2025, Greenpeace International initiated the first test of the European Union’s anti-SLAPP Directive by filing a lawsuit in Dutch court against ET. Greenpeace International seeks to recover all damages and costs it has suffered as a result of ET’s back-to-back, meritless lawsuits demanding hundreds of millions of dollars against Greenpeace International and the Greenpeace organisations in the US. 

Energy Transfer’s lawsuit is a clear-cut example of a SLAPP — a type of lawsuit that aims to bury nonprofits and activists in legal fees, push them towards bankruptcy and ultimately silence dissent. Big Oil companies Shell, Total, and ENI have also filed SLAPPs against Greenpeace entities in recent years. Some of these cases have been successfully stopped in their tracks. This includes Greenpeace France successfully defeating TotalEnergies’ SLAPP on 28 March 2024, and Greenpeace UK and Greenpeace International forcing Shell to back down from its SLAPP on 10 December 2024. Greenpeace Italy and Greenpeace Netherlands are facing the Italian oil giant Eni in a court case in Italy that begins on 24 June.

Contacts:

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), [email protected]

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