County Kilkenny, Ireland — Greenpeace International activists flew a ‘Stop the Billionaire Takeoff’ message near Kelcy Warren’s Irish estate Castletown Cox in County Kilkenny to call attention to this Big Oil bully’s widely reported takeover of the nearby Waterford Airport.
Susannah Compton, Head of Civic Resistance at Greenpeace International, said: “Our message to Trump-donating billionaire and reported Waterford Airport investor Kelcy Warren is that his billions and his proximity to President Trump can buy a lot, but it can’t buy anonymity: his decade of legal attempts to squash free speech and silence opposition to his energy giant’s pipelines will always follow him.”
“The billionaire takeoff is accelerating the already devastating impacts of climate change. A healthy future is dependent on curtailing the influence of billionaires whose businesses cook the planet and who use their power to attempt to silence dissent and free speech. It’s time to resist.”
Kelcy Warren’s reported takeover over of the Waterford Airport is not the US billionaire’s only entry in the area, as he has also purchased Castletown Cox in County Kilkenny, a historic estate where he plans to build a whiskey distillery.[1][2]
Kelcy Warren is the co-founder, largest shareholder, and Executive Chairman of Energy Transfer LP, one of the largest oil and gas pipeline companies in the US. He has been a significant donor to Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns. In the 2024 election cycle, Warren contributed millions to Trump’s campaign efforts, making him one of the top donors from the oil and gas industry.
Energy Transfer has been waging abusive lawsuits against Greenpeace International and Greenpeace in the US for nearly a decade. These SLAPPs are blatant attempts to silence free speech, erase Indigenous leadership of the Standing Rock movement, and punish solidarity with peaceful resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline. In an infamous media interview, Warren stated explicitly that Greenpeace organisations “are going to pay for this.”[3] In February, a North Dakota District Court awarded the US-based pipeline company US$345 million in damages.
Greenpeace International is taking Energy Transfer to court in the Netherlands to hold it accountable under Dutch law and the European Union’s anti-SLAPP directive for the back-to-back abusive lawsuits filed in the US.
ENDS
Photos and Videos can be accessed from the Greenpeace Media Library.
Notes:
[1] Kelcy Warren’s reported takeover over of the Waterford Airport https://www.waterford-news.ie/news/contracts-between-waterford-airport-and-us-oil-billionaire-kelcy-warren-officially-signed_arid-90441.html, https://www.rte.ie/news/regional/2026/0420/1569099-waterford-airport/, https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2026/01/06/texan-oil-pipeline-billionaire-behind-30m-investment-in-waterford-airport/, https://www.independent.ie/business/deal-with-us-billionaire-kelcy-warren-to-invest-30m-in-waterford-airport-near-completion/a2036430263.html
[2] Texas oil billionaire gets nod to build private whisky distillery on grounds of Kilkenny estate https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/texas-oil-billionaire-gets-nod-to-build-private-whiskey-distillery-on-grounds-of-kilkenny-estate/a2005397238.html
[3] Warren stated that Greenpeace organisations “are going to pay for this.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svepk49BTlM
Contacts:
Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), [email protected]
