A North Dakota jury on Wednesday discovered Greenpeace should pay a whole lot of thousands and thousands of {dollars} to a pipeline firm in reference to protests in opposition to the Dakota Entry oil pipeline.
The jury discovered Greenpeace chargeable for defamation and different claims and awarded Dallas-based Vitality Switch and subsidiary Dakota Entry greater than $650 million in damages.
The lawsuit accused Netherlands-based Greenpeace Worldwide, Greenpeace USA and funding arm Greenpeace Fund Inc. of defamation, trespass, nuisance, civil conspiracy and different acts.
Greenpeace mentioned earlier that a big award to the pipeline firm would threaten to bankrupt the environmental group. Following the nine-person jury’s verdict, Greenpeace’s senior authorized adviser mentioned the group’s work “isn’t going to cease.”
The impartial world campaigning community has been preventing for a big selection of environmental points for greater than half a century and has a protracted historical past of contentious authorized battles.
Listed here are some issues to know:
How was Greenpeace based?
Environmental activists based the group in Vancouver, Canada, in 1971.
The community’s first motion was to work to cease extra nuclear weapons assessments on Amchitka Island within the Aleutian island chain in southwest Alaska. They took a ship to the island to “bear witness,” which is a Quaker protest custom.
The U.S. later opted to desert their nuclear testing grounds on the island, marking Greenpeace’s first main victory.
The place did the identify Greenpeace come from?
Throughout preliminary work to cease the nuclear weapons assessments on Amchitka, Canadian ecologist Invoice Darnell was leaving one of many group’s conferences when somebody held up two fingers and mentioned “peace!” in line with Greenpeace’s web site.
Darnell, who’s now thought of a founding member of Greenpeace, replied: “Let’s make it a Inexperienced Peace.”
The identify was condensed into one phrase so it might match on buttons for the group’s first fundraiser.
What does Greenpeace do at present?
Greenpeace describes itself as the biggest environmental campaigning group on the earth. It’s made up of dozens of impartial nationwide or regional organizations in additional than 55 international locations, in line with its web site.
Its work to protect and restore precious ecosystems and push again on fossil gasoline firms is centered on nonviolent motion. Its protests have ranged from efforts to cease Shell from drilling for oil within the Alaskan Arctic to demonstrations to place an finish to France’s atmospheric assessments within the South Pacific to campaigns to preserve Canada’s coastal rainforest.
Greenpeace and its activists have additionally been the goal of fees and lawsuits, together with in 2023 when 4 activists have been arrested for scaling the nation property of former U.Okay. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and draping it in black material to protest his plan to broaden oil and gasoline drilling within the North Sea. They have been later cleared of prison fees.
Who helps Greenpeace?
Greenpeace is an impartial community that doesn’t take cash from governments, firms or political events, in line with its web site. Its funding comes from particular person contributions, together with basis grants.
In 2023, Greenpeace USA had about $40 million in income and assist and about $38 million in bills, in line with its on-line monetary assertion.
Its web site says it doesn’t think about anybody a everlasting good friend or enemy.
“In case your authorities or firm is keen to vary, we are going to work with you to realize your goals, its web site states. “Reverse course, and we shall be again.”
