Big Oil company Energy Transfer is trying to silence Greenpeace with a $300,000,000 lawsuit. If we actually had to pay that amount, Greenpeace USA could shut down.
This lawsuit from Energy Transfer against Greenpeace USA and Greenpeace International includes a racist attempted rewrite of the history of the Indigenous-led protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. It’s also Big Oil’s message to environmentalists everywhere: if you dare to criticize us, you could be next.
The world has taken notice.
Word of this threat to the entire climate justice movement has spread across the world, and over the last few months, thousands of Greenpeace activists, allies, and supporters in more than two dozen countries have responded to Big Oil in one unified voice.
Our message is loud and clear: we will not be silenced. And that message is now echoing across the planet.
Take a look at these photos from more than 25 different countries — as you scroll, think about what our movement is capable of when we work together.
United States
Netherlands
Germany
Czech Republic
Sweden
Denmark
Indonesia
Thailand
Croatia
Norway
Poland
United Kingdom
Brazil
Hungary
Switzerland
France
Philippines
Spain
Finland
Greece
Mexico
Slovenia
Romania
Ukraine
Aotearoa
Australia
Belgium
Germany. Indonesia. Thailand. Poland. Brazil. Hungary. France. Spain. Greece. Mexico. Australia. Belgium.
Greenpeace is a global movement. Environmental justice is a global movement.
That’s what Big Oil fails to understand: if they try to silence one of us, millions more will speak out. We will not be silenced. We cannot be silenced.
Big Oil knows that free speech and protest are the best tools we have to demand a green and just world, and they’re afraid of what happens when we exercise those rights. So that’s what we’re going to continue doing.
Recently, we launched an open letter to pressure Energy Transfer to drop their lawsuit. We’re proud to say that hundreds of thousands of people have now signed it, along with more than 400 organizations representing millions of people around the world.
With less than two weeks until we go to trial in North Dakota, we must keep raising our voices.
In September, The Wall Street Journal reported that “some oil-and-gas investors expressed concerns” about Energy Transfer’s $300 million lawsuit against us. Their concern? “It makes the industry look vindictive and could result in a reinvigorated protest movement.”
That’s precisely what Energy Transfer has ignited — a reinvigorated movement.
We all know that Big Oil has infinite sums of money, and immense power. And it’s true that a defeat in court could threaten Greenpeace USA’s existence, and have far-reaching implications for the climate justice movement around the world.
But we will not be silenced.
