“When environmental groups act to endanger the very environment they claim to be defending, what conclusion must be drawn in regards to their purpose? There goal is not transparency, truth, nor are these isolated incidents. It is a attempt to reverse the march of progress. As one environmental protestor recently stated at an Occupy rally, ‘Our very existence is bad for the planet.’ And another, ‘if you take humanity off this planet, the planet would explode with prosperity.’”
Energy Transfer Partners L.P. has sued Greenpeace International, Earth First!, Red Warrior Camp and numerous other parties accusing them of collaboration as a “Criminal Enterprise”. The suit states “the Enterprise” collaborated to incite terrorist acts, vandalism and the fabrication of false information in an effort to generate publicity for the purpose of raising money.
The network’s pattern of criminal and other misconduct includes (i) defrauding charitable donors and cheating federal and state tax authorities with claims that they are legitimate tax-free charitable organizations; (ii) cyberattacks; (iii) intentional and malicious interference with their targeted victim’s business relationships; and (iv) physical violence, threats of violence and the purposeful destruction of private and federal property.” (Case 1:17-cv-00173-CSM Document 1 Filed 08/22/17 Page 1 & 2 of 187)
The suit states the activity was conducted in an effort to raise money, not to protect the environment or cultural sites.
Over several decades, certain once legitimate not-for-profit groups have been corrupted by money raised from individuals and a network of foundations and special interests willing to “contribute” to advance their own political or business agendas. More recently, many smaller, more violent eco-terrorist organizations and radicalized individuals have begun exploiting the same lucrative business model using the proliferation of web-based fundraising tools to make money, much of which is diverted for personal gain and not used to further any environmental cause. (Case 1:17-cv-00173-CSM Document 1 Filed 08/22/17 Page 2 of 187)
Enterprise’s Acts
The radical militant group Red Warrior Camp was funded both directly and indirectly by the Enterprise. Earth First! gave $500,000 of seed money to Red Warrior Camp to establish its presence … The purpose of Red Warrior Camp’s infiltration of more peaceful demonstrators was to instigate criminal behavior, incite violent incidents, and generate sensational video and still images that these groups could use to foment public emotions worldwide, generating donations for all the Enterprise members engaged in this “cause.” (Case 1:17-cv-00173-CSM Document 1 Filed 08/22/17 Page 47 of 187)
Some of the acts detailed in the suit are:
The protesters illegally blocked traffic, and quickly became violent, trampling a wire construction fence and stampeding with hundreds of protesters, horses, dogs, and vehicles onto land where construction was ongoing. Protesters threatened security personnel with knives, hit them with fence posts and flagpoles, and otherwise physically attacked private security personnel retained by Energy Transfer, resulting in multiple security guards and dogs being hospitalized. (Case 1:17-cv-00173-CSM Document 1 Filed 08/22/17 Page 52 of 187)
Consistent with its playbook, the Enterprise sought to capitalize on the violent clashes it had intentionally incited … In furtherance of this objective, the Enterprise falsified a photograph purporting to show a seven year-old girl mauled by guard dogs at the DAPL construction site. In fact, the photo of the little girl was taken from a news story titled “Dog left out in Texas heat bites face of 3-year-old girl,” originally published in the N.Y. Daily News on June 26, 2012. (Case 1:17-cv-00173-CSM Document 1 Filed 08/22/17 Page 52 of 187)
Numerous other acts are listed in the suit conducted by the Enterprise who claimed they were carried out on behalf of the Standing Rock Sioux (SRST). However, according to the suit,
“Red Warrior Camp’s militant actions were taken without the approval of the SRST, or other ad hoc governing bodies at the protest camps. As a result of their aggressive and violent tactics, on November 1, 2016, the SRST Tribal Council voted 10-0 to ask Red Warrior Camp to leave the protest camps out of concern for the safety of the peaceful protesters opposing DAPL.” (Case 1:17-cv-00173-CSM Document 1 Filed 08/22/17 Page 132 of 187)
An Isolated Incident?
Energy Transfer Partners L.P. suit is the second company to file against the Enterprise. In May of 2016, Resolute Forest Products Inc. filed a similar suit alleging Greenpeace and its allies engaged in a racketeering scheme against logging. Both suits alleged the Enterprise engaged in racketeering in violation of RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act).
The Enterprise is an “enterprise” within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961(4) and 1962(a), which was engaged in, or the activities of which affected, interstate and/or foreign commerce. In furtherance of the Enterprise, Defendants committed the predicate racketeering acts as pleaded herein. It was the purpose of the Enterprise to create and disseminate false and misleading reports and information concerning Energy Transfer, under the guise of protecting the environment, but in truth, for the unlawful purpose of soliciting fraudulent donations from the public at-large. (Case 1:17-cv-00173-CSM Document 1 Filed 08/22/17 Page 169 of 187)
Truth and Transparency
Greenpeace USA’s General Counsel Tom Wetterer said in response to the suit in an emailed statement, “It is yet another classic ‘Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation’ (SLAPP), not designed to seek justice, but to silence free speech through expensive, time-consuming litigation.”
However, environmental groups use free speech to consistently disseminate false information about the chemicals utilized in hydraulic fracturing, claiming they endanger the environment and contaminate underground water supplies. In response, Montana proposed a bill intended to create “a fair process for disclosure of fracturing fluids to facilitate transparency…” This bill would require fracking companies to publicly disclose the chemicals used in the process.
Fracking solutions are primarily composed of 98% water and 2% chemicals. One of the most active chemicals in fracking solution is that found in hand sanitizer but with a much lower concentration.
In response to the bill, environmentalists sued to stop the proposed law. It would appear environmentalists prefer that the truth and factual process of fracking not be made available to the public because the facts would contradict their claims. In regards to truth and facts related to DAPL we find the same pattern. The Enterprise maliciously claimed that the pipeline would leak.
Likewise, Sierra Club called on the public to “take action” against the pipeline in a September 13, 2016 article “A Tribal Activist War Rages On: The Dakota Access Pipeline and The Fight for Justice.” The article falsely alleged that Energy Transfer Partners “uproote[d] and destroy[ed] the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation” and that a leak of the pipeline was “highly probable.” (Case 1:17-cv-00173-CSM Document 1 Filed 08/22/17 Page 55 of 187)
The Threat from Enterprise.
However, according to the suit, the only real threat of a pipeline leak actually came from the Enterprise.
And on May 3, 2017, in Wapello County, Iowa, Reznicek and Montoya cut through a chain link fence protecting a section of DAPL and attempted to use a blowtorch to cut into the aboveground section of the pipe in which crude oil was already flowing… Had the blowtorch successfully cut through the pipeline as in the prior two attempts to destroy the pipeline, the blowtorch would have ignited the oil inside and caused an explosion. These acts of sabotage not only damaged the pipeline, but endangered the public at-large and the very lands and waters the Enterprise claims it seeks to protect. (Case 1:17-cv-00173-CSM Document 1 Filed 08/22/17 Page 134 & 135 of 187)
When environmental groups act to endanger the very environment they claim to be defending, what conclusion must be drawn in regards to their purpose? There goal is not transparency, truth, nor are these isolated incidents. It is a attempt to reverse the march of progress. As one environmental protestor recently stated at an Occupy rally, “Our very existence is bad for the planet.” Said another, “if you take humanity off this planet, the planet would explode with prosperity.”
The campaign against fossil fuels is, at root, a campaign against humanity.
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Warren Martin, Executive Director of Kansas Strong, is a philosophy graduate of Texas Tech University. Author, teacher, minister, artist, quasi-philosopher, and speaker, Martin’s passion is to educate and motivate the next generation of leaders.
Kansas Strong (aka the Kansas Oil & Gas Resources Fund) is a nonprofit voluntarily funded by oil and natural gas producers in the state. Kansas Strong works to educate and inform people about the important role that oil and gas plays to better individual lives and society as a whole.
Well written ,factual and powerful.
Bravo !