The world has a message for Energy Transfer: We will not be silenced
All around the world, the voices and languages are many, but the message is the same. Greenpeace activists from more than 15 countries and allies across the environmental movement are taking action in solidarity against the abusive legal tactics of US-based fossil fuel company Energy Transfer (ET).
From Dallas and Paris to São Paolo and Bangkok, these global expressions of solidarity took place as Greenpeace International (GPI) and the Greenpeace entities in the US are facing a meritless US$ 300 million lawsuit from ET related to the Indigenous-led protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016. This lawsuit is an egregious example of a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP), a key tool used by corporate power to suppress free speech and people power. Not only does this SLAPP attempt to rewrite the history of this movement led by the Standing Rock Sioux, but a loss at trial could prove destructive to Greenpeace in the US and have widespread impacts for the climate justice movement all around the world.
The week of action included Greenpeace Poland climbers and Greenpeace Nordic activists and crew aboard Greenpeace ship Witness as well as images of #WeWillNotBeSilenced banners posted to social media throughout September and October.
‘It’s a threat to silencing all of us’
With the widespread threat to peaceful protest posed by this dangerous legal tactic clear, movement leaders and legal experts gathered together at a GPI-hosted event during Climate Week NYC on 24 September titled “An attack on one is an attack on all: How collectively responding to the threat of SLAPP suits is necessary for climate action”. The panel included Greenpeace USA Campaigns Director Rolf Skar, Greenpeace International Executive Director Mads Christensen, Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous, EarthRights International Executive Director Bobbie Sta. Maria, Systemic Justice founder Nani Jansen Reventlow, and Shayana Kadidal, a Senior Managing Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. This dynamic discussion explored the way more and more corporations are using dirty legal tricks like SLAPP suits to intimidate and silence their critics.
“To go after an organisation as iconic as Greenpeace is really a threat to all of us,” Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous said during the panel discussion. “Increasingly we’re seeing wealthy special interests use litigation in a way that can only have the impact of silencing us, intimidating us, stifling dissent, stifling democracy. Our organisations are key watchdogs. You silence Greenpeace, it’s a threat to silencing all of us, to silencing our movement.”
‘We will not be bullied’
Leading up to the week of action, more than 290 organisations, tens of thousands of individuals, and a growing list of public figures signed an open letter to Energy Transfer expressing solidarity with Greenpeace against their meritless US$ 300 million lawsuit:
We will not allow lawsuits like this one to stop us from advocating for a just, green and peaceful future. On the contrary, we will ensure they have the opposite effect, increasing the support for organisations like Greenpeace and strengthening the broader movement for justice.
This legal attack on Greenpeace is an attack on us all. We will not stand idly by. We will not be bullied. We will not be divided and we will not be silenced.
If enough of us speak out, we can stop Energy Transfer’s abusive lawsuit, protect Greenpeace, and defend free speech.
