Greenpeace Exploits Texas Tragedy for Its Own Gain
In responding to tragedy, people often reveal their true character. The environmental group Greenpeace recently showed its character – or lack thereof – in its response to a tragic Texas pipeline incident in September.
The unfortunate accident in Deer Park, Texas, occurred after a motorist, who is believed to have been suffering a seizure, crashed his SUV through a chain link fence and into a pipeline valve. The ensuing fire killed the motorist and damaged cars and homes nearby.
In the wake of the incident, Greenpeace launched an advertising campaign attacking Energy Transfer, who owns the pipeline. The campaign is designed to hurt Energy Transfer’s reputation, raise Greenpeace’s profile, and ultimately increase the group’s fundraising. Sadly, this is par for the course with Greenpeace, an organization that cares more about attacking energy companies than about the damage its actions may inflict on communities.
This same playbook was utilized by Greenpeace eight years ago in North Dakota, when the group instigated violent protests against Energy Transfer’s Dakota Access pipeline. In that case, Greenpeace spread lies about the pipeline which generated media protests and caused thousands of people to flock to North Dakota.
In e-mails and social media posts, Greenpeace led people to believe the pipeline would cross tribal lands when it actually does not. The organization told people that state and regulatory authorities had rushed the pipeline’s approval, despite the fact that the process took years to complete. Energy Transfer even made more than one hundred changes to its original plans to help mitigate any environmental or cultural concerns. None of that mattered to Greenpeace because, as it turns out, Greenpeace is neither interested in being green or peaceful. They’re only interested in money and power.
Greenpeace also threatened banks and financial institutions that were providing financing for the pipeline. In one case, protestors smashed the windows of a Chase bank in Denver and spray-painted anti-pipeline graffiti on its façade.
Ultimately, the violent protests failed to stop the pipeline from being built, but it did cost the companies involved at least $7.5 billion, according to a University of Colorado report. The report noted that during the protests, Energy Transfer’s stock prices experienced a 20% decline as protest-related delays nearly doubled the project’s initial costs.
Nonetheless, the Dakota Access Pipeline has been a boost to the region’s economy. It created 10,000 construction jobs, generated $222 million in state tax revenue over a five-year period, and continues to support the North Dakota oil and gas industry which is responsible for nearly 50,000 jobs in the state.
Like North Dakota, Texas’ oil and gas industry is a cornerstone of the state’s economy, representing about 42%. So, when groups like Greenpeace use propaganda to vilify energy companies, Texans should take notice. The actions of activist environmentalists like those at Greenpeace are a threat to Texas’ economic and energy security.
Some longtime Greenpeace supporters have noticed that the group seems to have lost its moral compass. After leaving Greenpeace years ago, one of its founders Dr. Patrick Moore observed, “Science and logic no longer held sway. Sensationalism, misinformation, and fear were what we used to promote our campaigns.”
Greenpeace is now following the same playbook in Texas they employed in North Dakota. They are seeking to undermine an industry and damage the reputation of an oil and gas company for no other reason than because it exists. Greenpeace may not rely on science and logic, but Texans should. We all want clean air and water, and as a nation we have gotten cleaner with major pollutants down 77% in the last half century. But that’s an inconvenient narrative for a radical environmental extremists, who should not be allowed to dictate the future of our state’s economic or environmental security.
Wayne Christian is the Texas Railroad Commissioner.
