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.

(Mary Steurer – North Dakota Monitor) – A behemoth defamation lawsuit brought by the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline against Greenpeace began its trial in a Mandan courtroom on Monday.

Jury selection began Monday in Dakota Access Pipeline's $300 million lawsuit against Greenpeace USA. A federal lawsuit by the company was dismissed but there is a similar one filed in North Dakota state court in 2019.