The Biden administration said Monday it is approving a huge oil-drilling project on Alaska\u2019s petroleum-rich North Slope, a major environmental decision by President Joe Biden that drew quick condemnation as flying in the face of his pledges to slow climate change.
The announcement came a day after the administration, in a move in the other direction toward conservation, said it would bar or limit drilling in some other areas of Alaska and the Arctic Ocean.
The approval of ConocoPhillips\u2019 big Willow drilling project by the Bureau of Land Management will allow three drill sites including up to 199 total wells. Two other drill sites proposed for the project will be denied. ConocoPhillips Chairman and CEO Ryan Lance called the order \u201cthe right decision for Alaska and our nation.\u201d
The Houston-based company will relinquish rights to about 68,000 acres of existing leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
The order, one of the most significant of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland\u2019s tenure, was not signed by her but rather by her deputy, Tommy Beaudreau, who grew up in Alaska and briefed state lawmakers on the project Monday. Haaland was notably silent on the project, which she had opposed as a New Mexico congresswoman before becoming Interior secretary two years ago, until releasing a video Monday evening.
She described Willow as \u201ca difficult and complex issue that was inherited\u201d from earlier administrations. Because ConocoPhillips has held leases in the area for decades, Haaland said officials \u201chad limited decision space\u201d to block the project but focused on minimizing its footprint.
Haaland defended the Biden administration\u2019s record on climate change, saying, \u201cI am confident that we are on the right path, even if it\u2019s not always a straight line.\u201d
Climate activists remained outraged that Biden approved the project, which they say puts his climate legacy at risk. Allowing the drilling plan to go forward marks a major breach of Biden\u2019s campaign promise to stop new oil drilling on federal lands, they say.
Monday\u2019s announcement is not likely to be the last word, with litigation expected from environmental groups.
The Willow project could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day, create up to 2,500 jobs during construction and 300 long-term jobs, and generate billions of dollars in royalties and tax revenues for the federal, state and local governments, the company said.
The project, located in the federally designated National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, enjoys widespread political support in the state. Alaska\u2019s bipartisan congressional delegation met with Biden and his advisers in early March to plead their case for the project, and Alaska Native state lawmakers recently met with Haaland to urge support.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said Monday the decision was \u201cvery good news for the country.\u201d
\u201cNot only will this mean jobs and revenue for Alaska, it will be resources that are needed for the country and for our friends and allies,\u201d Murkowski said. \u201cThe administration listened to Alaska voices. They listened to the delegation as we pressed the case for energy security and national security.\u201d
Fellow Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan said conditions attached to the project should not reduce Willow\u2019s ability to produce up to 180,000 barrels of crude a day. But he said it was \u201cinfuriating\u201d that Biden also had moved to prevent or limit oil drilling elsewhere in Alaska.
Environmental activists who have promoted a #StopWillow campaign on social media were fuming at the approval, which they called a betrayal.
\u201cThis decision greenlights 92% of proposed oil drilling (by ConocoPhllips) and hands over one the most fragile, intact ecosystems in the world to\u201d the oil giant, said Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen. \u201cThis is not climate leadership.\u2033
Biden understands the existential threat of climate change, \u201cbut he is approving a project that derails his own climate goals,\u2033 said Dillen, whose group vowed legal action to block the project.
John Leshy, who was a top Interior Department lawyer in the Clinton administration, said Biden\u2019s climate goals aren\u2019t the only factor in an environmental review process that agencies must follow.
Leshy, a professor at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, called the decision on Willow defensible, adding: \u201cI think it reflects a balancing of the things they have to balance, which is the environmental impact and the lease rights that Conoco has.\u2033
Christy Goldfuss, a former Obama White House official who now is a policy chief at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said she was \u201cdeeply disappointed\u2033 at Biden\u2019s decision to approve Willow, which the BLM estimates would produce more than 239 million metric tons of greenhouse gases over the project\u2019s 30-year life, roughly equal to the combined emissions from 1.7 million passenger cars.
\u201cThis decision is bad for the climate, bad for the environment and bad for the Native Alaska communities who oppose this and feel their voices were not heard,\u2033 Goldfuss said.
The Willow project has been a particularly galvanizing issue for young activists, who flooded TikTok with videos opposing the proposal.
Biden has not commented publicly on the project\u2019s approval. However, he talked about climate change with Kal Penn, an actor who served in the White House under President Barack Obama, in an interview that was taped last week and will be aired Monday evening on Comedy Central\u2019s \u201cThe Daily Show.\u201d
\u201cWe\u2019re going faster than anyone has ever gone,\u201d Biden said when asked about young people who want him to push harder. He said the energy situation \u201cgot really complicated\u201d with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, adding that \u201cwe\u2019re going to need fossil fuel.\u201d
\u201cSo it\u2019s a matter of transitioning, but it\u2019s not like you can cut everything off immediately,\u201d Biden said.
Anticipating anger among environmental groups, the White House announced Sunday that Biden will prevent or limit oil drilling in 16 million acres in Alaska and the Arctic Ocean. The plan would bar drilling in nearly 3 million acres of the Beaufort Sea \u2014 closing it off from oil exploration \u2014 and limit drilling in more than 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve.
The withdrawal of the offshore area ensures that important habitat for whales, seals, polar bears and other wildlife \u201cwill be protected in perpetuity from extractive development,\u2033 the White House said in a statement.
The conservation announcement did little to mollify activists.
\u201cIt\u2019s a performative action to make the Willow project not look as bad,\u201d said Elise Joshi, the acting executive director of Gen-Z for Change, an advocacy organization.
City of Nuiqsut Mayor Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, whose community of about 525 people is closest to the proposed development, has been outspoken in her opposition, worried about impacts to caribou and her residents\u2019 subsistence lifestyles. \u201cMy constituents and community will bear the burden of this project with our health and our livelihoods,\u2033 she said.
But there is \u201cmajority consensus\u201d in the North Slope region supporting the project, said Nagruk Harcharek, president of the group Voice of the Arctic I\u00f1upiat, whose members include leaders from across much of that region.
The conservation actions announced Sunday block drilling in the Beaufort Sea and build on President Barack Obama\u2019s actions to restrict drilling there and in the Chukchi Sea.
Separately, the administration moved to protect more than 13 million acres within the petroleum reserve, a 23-million acre chunk of land on Alaska\u2019s North Slope set aside a century ago for future oil production. Areas to be protected include the Teshekpuk Lake, Utukok Uplands, Colville River, Kasegaluk Lagoon and Peard Bay Special Areas, which serve as habitat for grizzly and polar bears, caribou and migratory birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n