By Jo Nova
Greenpeace USA say it may be bankrupted by a pipeline billionaire
Even though the evidence for a climate catastrophe is “overwhelming” and they have the media licking their shoes, Greenpeace have somehow failed to persuade the voters to share their outrage and cancel the pipelines that carry “fossil” fuels. So they moved to lawfare and allegedly a slow sabotage through dubious protests that stopped companies from carrying out legal business activity. Now finally, after years of battling, one pipeline billionaire is said to be “within spitting distance” of winning a $300 million dollar case against them. His company is called Energy Transfer.
In 2016, Greenpeace and some native American tribal groups and activists camped for months in a corner of North Dakota to stop the crude oil pipeline his company was building.
The case is set for trial in February in North Dakota. Obviously the outcome is not known, but everyone seems to be acting as if they do know. The first line of the Wall Street Journal says the billionaire “is about to land a knockout punch on Greenpeace. ”
Donors to Greenpeace will not be happy if their money ends up with a crude oil pipeline company.
The Texas Billionaire Who Has Greenpeace USA on the Verge of Bankruptcy
Energy Transfer’s lawsuit alleges several Greenpeace entities incited the Dakota Access protests, funded attacks to damage the pipeline, and spread misinformation about the company and its project. The case is set for trial in February in a North Dakota state court, where both sides expect a fossil-fuel-friendly jury. Energy Transfer is seeking $300 million in damages, which would likely wipe out Greenpeace USA, according to the group’s leadership.
Deepa Padmanabha, Greenpeace USA’s acting co-executive director, said the lawsuit is “an existential threat” to the group.
Kelce claims people have not wanted to take on these protestors for fear it would “look wrong”:
“Everybody is afraid of these environmental groups and the fear that it may look wrong if you fight back with these people,” Warren said in a 2017 TV interview. “But what they did to us is wrong, and they’re gonna pay for it.”
If the Pipeline billionaire does win the $300 million suit, it will wipe out Greenpeace USA (but not the rest of the Greenpeace international circus.) Greenpeace say they had a “limited role”. The lawsuit alleges they funded attacks on the pipeline, incited protests and spread misinformation.
May the floodgates open
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, the European arm of Greenpeace has just been ordered to pay $50,000 in fines for getting in the way of oil tankers in 2022:
Danish court fines Greenpeace for blocking transit of tankers carrying Russian oil
A court in the town of Svendborg in Denmark has imposed fines totalling DKK360,000 (US$53,000) against the local branch of environmental activist group Greenpeace in connection with some of its members’ actions in attempting to disrupt the movement of crude oil imported from Russia.
After years of petulant attention-seeking antics, Greenpeace has lost community sympathy and its sacred un-suable glow (at least in some states). This is the company with a budget in the hundreds of millions, which threatened people with “we know where you live”.
This was the Greenpeace attitude of 2010:
The proper channels have failed. It’s time for mass civil disobedience to cut off the financial oxygen from denial and scepticism. If you’re one of those who believe that this is not just necessary but also possible, speak to us. Let’s talk about what that mass civil disobedience is going to look like. If you’re one of those who have spent their lives undermining progressive climate legislation, bankrolling junk science, fuelling spurious debates around false solutions and cattle-prodding democratically-elected governments into submission, then hear this: We know who you are. We know where you live. We know where you work. And we be many, but you be few.
But ponder what a travesty the justice system is. The pipeline was delayed in 2016, and instead of authorities protecting a legal activity at the time, here we are eight years later, after a million or two has been send to lawyers, and we still don’t have certainty. Meanwhile, Greenpeace and others delayed a product that people wanted. Some poor deplorables must have paid more than they would have for crude oil based products during the delay, but they won’t get a cent back in compensation. If only people could sue the justice system…
Protest photo by Becker1999 from Grove City, OH
The comments at the WSJ are spirited:
Harry Prothero says: “Great news!!! How do I contribute to Mr. Warren’s lawsuit against these jackals?“
Mark Limbruner: Thank goodness an oil & gas executive that’s not running to a foxhole and hiding but is taking the fight to his company’s opponents!
Brian Thomas at the WSJ:
h/t Reader
.jpg){kind=link}
Good News Week!
Trump looking good in polls which will bring further grief to the Environmentalists.
361
We live in hope!
91
Green Puss has been a thorn in our collective sides for far too long! It’s time to fight back. A big win in US Courts might be the catalyst. If only our solar panel/wind man in Canberra would get the message!
370
Even if they win every penny they are asking for, it won’t kill Greenpeace.
All it will do is temporarily empty their coffers while causing a FLOOD of fundraising money to pour in as Greenpeace pleads poverty to the well-off granola and Birkenstock crowd.
261
Not so sure. The cost of energy is crippling all businesses. This new utterly communist Greenpeace is in favor of killing the whales, dolphins, eagles, National Parks, open oceans and green vistas and open borders. As Dr Patrick Moore, one of the founders of Greenpeace, has said for year, Greenpeace has become the enemy of all humanity.
550
You are preaching to the choir, but there is always some familial guilt riddled heiress or watermelon foundation that will bail them out. I’m sure the Gettys or the Rockefeller Foundation (both of which owe their fortunes to black gold) are already earmarking money for Greenpeace in the event they lose.
131
Yes, but rich people are not crazy. They don’t want to give their money to the oil companies. Ironic as the Getty wealth was entirely from oil.
It will put a brake on extreme and illegal behaviour. As when they start jailing Grumpy Greta who is no longer a schoolgirl, an era will end.
201
I disagree.
Heirs of great fortunes who didn’t do a damn thing to earn it other than come from a lucky sperm/egg, often ARE crazy. As are the philanthropic foundations founded with all that dirty oil and industrial money. The Gettys, the Vanderbilts, the Rockerfeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, etc. don’t give a tinker’s damn about throwing good money after bad. It’s all monopoly money to them because they didn’t scratch and claw in the dirt to earn it like their ancestors did.
If old John D Rockefeller was still around, then sure, he’d tell Greenpeace to piss up a rope. But his great grandkids? They don’t care. They were born with a bottomless pot of money and will spend it profligately to salve their generational guilt over being such soft-handed children of privilege whose wealth comes from climate destroying fossil fuels (and yes, most of them are true believers in the climate apocalypse).
140
Not my experience. Individuals make fortunes and often just extremely lucky. There is no expectation the next generation can do as well. And without Primo Genitur and continuing income it is distributed equally and over three generations, no one is rich by simple arithmetic progression. Then marriages, divorces, bad judgement and bad luck, it all vanishes into many hands. Plus inflation. Only some families keep it together, the Rotschilds, Duponts and a few more, not many. The English in Northern Ireland passed a law requiring the Irish to divide their assets equally and within two generations no one had viable land for farming so farm land became worthless. The idea that people throw it away is possible, but unlikely.
20
I think you vastly underestimate how huge those family fortunes are.
Aileen Getty is just one of many Getty grandchildren, yet she is still a billionaire who showers millions on green whackadoos like Just Stop Oil. They couldn’t function without her. She and her ilk live off of dividends and interest payments on grandpa’s fortune while leaving the principal to grow. The same goes for giant family philanthropic organizations like the Ford/Rockefeller Foundations. They’re sitting on a giant pile of money and spending the proceeds, but the principal remains.
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2022/11/03/aileen-getty-billionaire-proud-to-finance-environmental-activists-dramatic-actions_6002800_114.html
10
More likely Greenpeace USA will be bankrupted, leaving its debts unpaid.
A little later, mirabile dictu, Greenpeace America will be born. Completely new organisation of course.
200
And Victoria’s Premier is moving quickly to allow gas exploration and removing the ban on gas cooktops.
Labor has realised that when the lights go out, they go out in Parliament too for the Labor party and Greens and Teals and the Unions. And no amount of money will charge your electric car or power your phone or turn on the traffic lights or the petrol pump.
It is an admission that at every level of government they know Victoria is not only the most indebted state in Australia, more than Queensland and NSW combined, but cannot keep the lights on when the Bass Strait gas runs out next year.
Perhaps they will also allow exports of Victoria’s brown coal as the manufacturing jobs vanish? Where are those Green jobs? They never existed. And the middle class overpaid Union Leaders are probably squealing with the absolutely rocketing Land taxes on holiday homes and investment homes. No wonder Labor is talking taxing ‘unearned capital gains’, a tax on existing assets and government induced inflation.
440
How about native forest logging? Will they end that insanity?
Apparently, it’s difficult to buy hardwood in Vicdanistan.
120
Just a little bit longer once all the Mills have been bought out, machinery sold off or repurposed and the expertise lost to other places and industries. THEN, Labor will back pedal and say only joking, you can start again …..where is everybody ?
A guy on the other side of our little village used to run and service log trucks. He got paid out and now does much the same but moving heavy machinery about. Nearby towns fuel distributor lost 30% of their turnover as logging exited
00
It’s a pity that our Vicdanistani politicians are so slow on the uptake when it comes to all things energy. Someone must have advised them that lights were going to go out and they have been spurred into action in a bid to save their political hides. It should have happened sooner but it is a welcome backflip nonetheless
50
With Lily D’Ambrosio as Vic Energy minister, what would you expect? In fact, a saying applies to both Chris Bowen and Lily. If brains were dynamite, they wouldn’t have enough between them to blow their nose. One of my late grandfathers favourite sayings.
50
Ha ha, that’s a good saying. Yes, I dare say those two would barely raise enough powder to supply one round for those six shooter cap guns l used as a child
20
Seems like a replay of Weatherdills actions in SA. Hopefully with the same results. I have no great regard for whats his name the opposition leader, but one problem at a time for now. As long as he is less bad than Allan it may be enough.
00
Lawfare.
One of the main tactics in US Civil War 2.0.
Modern, slightly more civilized, version of Trial by Combat.
Especially if you can afford to hire the best and most champions …
and you’ve ideologically conquered the Law schools.
And then you start lawfaring to take the law licenses of the champions that represent the side you don’t like, which means you’re a Democrat.
Then your barely civil Civil War starts to get a bit leaky.
130
And here in the land of limp wristed law officers they are planning to work around protests in Newcastle harbour because it is important to allow people to have their say even though they will delay coal exports and cause disruptions. Just remember what happened when a small pregnant lady posted information of a protest on Facebook. The brave police were onto her like blowies on a dead cow but then they stand aside for Muslims waving flags and calling for the destruction of Israel. And they leave idiots hanging from cranes instead of just shaking them loose. I liked the French policemen who simply ripped protesters hands from the road to which they had been glued. I bet those protesters don’t glue themselves again. There are protests and there are protests. They are not all the same and some are extremely damaging to society and the country yet are treated the same as those who do no harm. Pathetic leadership by our elected representatives and the judiciary.
431
Dr Patrick Moore will be pleased to see these anti science Communist loonies bite the dust.
But I just hope these con merchants aren’t saved by other loony billionaires and other dopey fundraisers.
261
Obvious what the next company to invest in is.
60
I am surprised that the courts will even consider slapping greenpeace on the wrist . Their track record is the complete opposite of that so far . Lawfare has been running successfully for the loons for some time . I will wait and see….
110
Wasn’t Patrick Moore’s Greenpeace a handy vehicle for the commos to take over when he left.
80
“The law is an ass” is so relevant here. Because very often these litigation cases do not reveal right from wrong but more so the legal tactics employed. This suit against Greenpeace will most likely be successful because the court is in North Dakota and probably very oil friendly. Same situation, but court case in California or maybe even Austin,Texas ( now a more liberal demographic) and the result might be completely different.
80
Perhaps why it was wise for the USA to have an electoral college to choose a President?
60
Not only is “the law an ass” but rarely do you see justice in the justice system.
Punishment, if any, rarely equates to the crime.
60
Good news but Greenpeace US is tiny while both G International and G Germany are very big with annual revenue over $100 million each.
111
This will destroy the peace of a few Greens too! Typhoon Yagi lays a dozen wind towers low but not a word in our MSM/ABC
https://wattsupwiththat.com/climate_tv_video/wind-turbines-destroyed-by-typhoon-yagi/
130
Of course. But you just replace them. Eternally. That is why they are called renewables.
180
Sign… “not a word” again.
I read about this in “The Age” this morning. Are they alt media now?
And the ABC is now alternative… you can find video of turbines on this page https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-09/dozens-killed-in-aftermath-of-typhoon-yagi-in-vietnam/104330046
18
:O
02
Sign indeed G
30
I took a look at that link, audio wasn’t working on my device for the first clip. The second ABC video via YouTube contains footage of wind turbines- most of which are spinning (kind of odd when the journalist is concurrently speaking of power infrastructure damage, no close-ups of felled turbines as seen in Peguinite’s link). This occurs from 2:20-3:00 minute marks in said video.
On the other hand, local wind turbines haven’t been performing too well under strong winds- let alone typhoons…
https://reneweconomy.com.au/investigations-underway-after-turbine-blade-parts-detach-at-golden-plains-wind-farm/#google_vignette
10
Sigh…”not a word” again
**correct spelling #toomuchleafmethinks
40
But they’re renewable. They’ll just grow back, won’t they?
140
I like the sign on the fence that says “we are unarmed”. These people still think it’s 1962. Times have changed folks. I know a few lefties who still live in the political world on the 1980s they grew up in. The type who still think Murdoch controls the world and their ABC is fighting back against it.
The people in Melbourne during Covid were unarmed too, but it didn’t stop Dan unleashing the cannons on them.
200
I’m a fan of the Second Amendment, but owning guns didn’t help US conservatives get a fair election.
Nor did it keep J6 protestors out of prison. And if they’d carried guns during the Capitol riots they would only have secured longer jail terms.
We’re headed off topic here. I’ll only say every democracy must include the right to protest without guns. And if the government can jail protestors for protesting with words or walking, then people don’t have the right to protest at all. That’s the US and the UK right now.
170
Great news. Greenpeace is an activist cancer run by the Marxist left. The commie dictatorships like Communist China and North Korea can take them back.
60
It’s also a huge profitable business. First the communists. Then the business types. Then the lawyers fighting over licensing and trademarks. The only bit left is the name.
70
The takeover of Greenpeace is detailed in Dr Patrick Moore’s book “Confessions of a Greenpeace dropout”.
10
And to our solar panel/wind person in Canbrrrrrra I am just drying my washing using a solar and wind powered dryer. It’s called a washing line and it is using free energy with no interference from doles like him.
130
And requires minimal in equipment to harvest too!
70
You should apply for a wind/solar power subsidy or rebate.
Chris Bowen would approve.
60
Not at all! By using the wind in that way he is taking kinetic energy out of the atmosphere that is no longer available to windfarms. So washing lines should be taxed.
Lest you think that can’t happen, someone lost a court case here in the UK years ago brought by a water company who complained that the defendant, by catching water off the roof of his cottage in a reservoir catchment area, was preventing them from harvesting the water. (Did they think his bathwater simply dematerialised?)
A few years ago a friend celebrated his retirement by walking from John O’Groats to Lands End. I estimated his additional food requirements to do that, looked up the ‘social cost’ of carbon, and sent him a letter purporting to be from his local council demanding the appropriate sum of money.
30
Californians Lose Power Again in Heat Wave Amid ‘Green Energy’ Push
California residents are once again struggling to keep the lights on after as many as 50,000 people lost electricity in a heat wave this past weekend that caused the famed Hollywood Bowl to cancel a concert due to the power outage.
The Hollywood Reporter noted:
The Hollywood Bowl was forced to cancel its Sept. 8 show due to a power outage.
The venue posted on its website that the concert, headlined by Vance Joy, had been called off.
The Reporter said that it was unclear what caused the outage, but KABC-7 blamed the heat:
The heat was affecting electrical equipment as utilities scrambled to dispatch crews.
That left many thousands of people without working air conditioning or refrigeration during one of the hottest days of the year.
[SNIP]
60
Has the Electricity Reality Check Arrived?
Todd Snitchler RealClearEnergy
At meetings of energy regulators, policymakers, consumer advocates, and industry this summer, the content and tone of the conversations around electric system reliability have changed dramatically.
Executives from across the industry all agree that dispatchable generation is needed now and will be needed for many years to come.
Most prominently, the realization and willingness to say publicly that dispatchable resources like natural gas-fired generation will be needed as the energy expansion continues and load growth accelerates for the first time in decades is a welcome admission.
For several years the discussion around the future of the electrical grid was about how inexpensive it will be and how “out of political favor” resources would be moved off the grid in favor of politically favored ones without creating any disruptions or reliability challenges. And just like that, the story has changed – dramatically.
Why?
[SNIP SNIP]
30
Coal Freed Humanity and Built the Modern World
By Emily Arthun September 09, 2024
“Life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short,” Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
In 1620, the average lifespan of a man was 34 years. For women, it was 42 years. Most of those born didn’t survive childhood. For people then, at the time Thomas Hobbes was writing his seminal work, Leviathan, life was indeed, “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
Life was a constant struggle to survive.
It was spent simply trying to find food and make it from day to day. There was little thought of the future… little time to dream about what could be or to build a future. For women it was a life spent trying to make something of a home, washing clothes in cold water on a scrub board, cooking over an open wood fire. In summer, they worked all day tending a garden and taking care of livestock. It was backbreaking labor every day, right up until the day they died – usually from disease or starvation.
Today, the average life expectancy for men is 73 and for women it is 79 – effectively double what it was in Hobbes’ time. Most historians say the primary reason for the increase was the Industrial Revolution that began in the late-1700s and 1800s, when, for the first time, western society began to make widespread use of machinery for manufacturing.
[SNIP]
60
The Industrial Revolution ended famine in the West. The Potato Famine in Ireland was the last example
of citizens dying from natural food shortages other than wartime sieges and destruction of farmland.
20
Ozzie,
The longer we wait for the “reality check” the more it will cost . You can bet the inheritors of the CFMEU crown are rubbing their hands together in anticipation . Lets hope when the time comes that the engineers involved aren’t DEI applicants. The more complex the solutions , the more intolerant of idiocy…
60
“(He admitted earlier this year that California still faces blackouts despite investing in new battery capacity.)”
Perpetrating the myth that batteries have anything to do with providing baseload. I wonder where all the fanboys that used to sneeringly refer to critics as “baseloaders” are now?
40
Yes. The key word being dispatchable. Available on call – 24/7.
Politicians through their ignorance are destroying economies and peoples livelihoods.
100
A big concern is that the anti-energy, anti-science billionaires might step in to fund Green Peas.
40
We know where you live. But you can’t tell me that you don’t know where they live. So, who will be carrying the big stick? That is the question.
20
Green activists too often resort,
To assaults on art works and sport,
And disrupting pipelines,
Can incur heavy fines,
And awards to more plaintiffs in court.
70
Nice one!
60
Testing , my comments disappear, lost in space! 1
30
You are here now beth!
20
[…] From JoNova […]
00
[…] Schreibe eine Antwort Greenpeace USA may be wiped out by $300m lawsuit from Pipeline tycoon […]
00
[…] Greenpeace USA may be wiped out by $300m lawsuit from Pipeline tycoon […]
10
There’s more: Energy Transfer – suing Greenpeace here – bought the Sunoco oil company back in 2017, thereby essentially indirectly becoming the named defendant in the 2020 pair of “ExxonKnew” lawsuits Honolulu v Sunoco and Maui v Sunoco. Both lawsuits more or less rely on cornerstone ‘leaked memos evidence’ from a pair of former top Greenpeace USA operatives for the accusation that fossil fuel company executives employed shill skeptic scientists in disinformation campaigns. I detailed that fatal problem and others in my GelbspanFiles blog dissections of both lawsuits here and here. If Energy Transfer chooses to look into those problems, it might pave the way for them to get both lawsuits dismissed from having no viable evidence proving any such ‘disinformation campaigns’ ever happened.
10