Pete Kolbenschlag is a public land, conservation, and climate change activist living in the North Fork Valley of Colorado. As the director of Mountain West Strategies, he helps communities organize campaigns around oil and gas development. In February 2017, he was sued for libel by SG Interests (SGI), an oil and gas company, after posting an online comment in response to an article about the company. SG Interests’ complaint claimed that Kolbenschlag’s statement was contrary to the truth and would impact what people think about the company. The case was dismissed as frivolous and vexatious by a Delta County District Court in 2017. The company appealed a three-judge panel of the Colorado Court of Appeals, and in June 2019, the lower court decision was upheld. In July 2019, that same appellate court denied an SG Interests petition to rehear the case by the full court.