A Texas pipeline company's lawsuit seeking potentially hundreds of millions of dollars from Greenpeace was set to advance with opening statements Wednesday in a trial the environmental organization calls an effort to silence critics of the oil industry.
The lawsuit alleges Greenpeace tried to delay construction of the pipeline, defamed the companies behind it, and coordinated trespassing, vandalism and violence by pipeline protesters.
Dallas-based Energy Transfer and its subsidiary Dakota Access allege trespass, nuisance, defamation and other offenses by Netherlands-based Greenpeace International and its American branch, Greenpeace USA.
The lawsuit stems from protests in 2016 and 2017 against the Dakota Access oil pipeline and its controversial Missouri River crossing upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's reservation.
Greenpeace representatives say the case is an example of corporations abusing the legal system to go after critics and is a critical test of free speech and protest rights.
