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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Monday it would approve the massive Willow oil drilling project on Alaska’s oil-rich North Slope.This is a major climate change move By President Joe Biden, who was immediately criticized by environmentalists Who said it goes against the promises of the Democratic president?
announcement The day after the administration announced it would ban or limit drilling in Alaska and other parts of the Arctic Ocean, in an opposing move to protect the environment.
Willow’s approval from the Bureau of Land Management will allow three drilling sites with a total of up to 199 wells. His two other drilling sites proposed for this project are rejected. ConocoPhillips, the developer of the project, said the company’s chairman and CEO, Ryan Lance, said it was “the right decision for Alaska and our country,” and that the three-site option is viable. He said that he thinks
Houston-based ConocoPhillips will relinquish its existing lease on approximately 68,000 acres of Alaska National Oil Reserves.
The order was one of the most significant in Secretary of the Interior Deb Harland’s tenure, and was not ordered by Secretary of the Interior Harland, but by her deputy, Tommy, who grew up in Alaska and has close ties to state legislators. Signed by Boudreau. She has been particularly quiet about the project, which she opposed as a New Mexico legislator before becoming her Secretary of the Interior two years ago.
Climate activists are furious that Biden gave the green light to the project, putting his climate legacy in jeopardy, they say. It would also break Biden’s campaign promise to stop the campaign, they say.
But government officials are concerned that ConocoPhillips’ decades-old lease limited the government’s legal ability to block the project, allowing courts to rule in favor of the company. rice field.
Monday’s announcement is unlikely to be final as lawsuits from environmental groups are expected.
The Willow Project will produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil per day, create up to 2,500 jobs and 300 long-term jobs during construction, and generate billions of dollars in royalties and tax revenues for federal, state, and local governments. The company says it can produce .
Located in the federally designated Alaska National Petroleum Reserve, the project enjoys broad political support. in a state. Alaska Native lawmakers recently met with Interior Secretary Deb Harland to ask for Willow’s support.
Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Markowski said on Monday that the decision was “very good news for the country.”
“Not only will this mean jobs and income for Alaska, it will be a much-needed resource for this country and our friends and allies,” Markowski said. “The administration listened to Alaska. When we pushed our energy security and national security claims, they were listed on the delegation.”
Republican Senator Dan Sullivan said the terms attached to the project should not reduce Willow’s ability to produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day. But he said it was “infuriating” that Biden moved to prevent or limit oil drilling elsewhere in Alaska.
Environmentalists who are pushing the #StopWillow campaign on social media outraged the approval, calling it a betrayal.
Abigail Dillen, president of Earthjustice, said: “The climate crisis is too late to approve large-scale oil and gas projects that directly undermine the new clean economy that the Biden administration has promised to advance. “We know President Biden understands the existential threats to climate, but he approves projects that derail his own climate goals.”
Christy Goldfuss, a former Obama administration White House official who is now head of policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said she was “extremely disappointed” by Biden’s decision to approve Willow. Over 1 million units.
“This decision is bad for the climate, the environment, and the Alaska Native community who are against it and feel their voices are not being heard,” Goldfuss said.
Anticipating the reaction of environmental groups, the White House announced Sunday that Biden would prevent or limit oil drilling on 16 million acres in Alaska and the Arctic Ocean. The plan would prohibit drilling on about 3 million acres in the Beaufort Sea, shut it off from oil exploration, and limit drilling on more than his 13 million acres of national oil reserves.
The White House said in a statement that the offshore withdrawal would ensure that critical habitat for whales, seals, polar bears and other wildlife would be “permanently protected from exploitation.”
Conservation announcements did little to appease activists.
“It’s performative action that makes the Willow project look less bad,” said Elise Joshi, acting executive director of advocacy group Gen-Z for Change. A bipartisan congressional delegation from Alaska met with Mr. Biden and his advisers in early March to appeal the project’s claims. Meanwhile, environmental groups drew opposition and urged opponents of the project to put pressure on the government.
Nuyquist Mayor Rosemary Attuangaruak, whose community of about 525 people is closest to the proposed development, has voiced outspoken opposition over concerns about the impact on the caribou and the subsistence livelihoods of its residents. increase. The Naqsragmiut Tribal Council, another North Slope community, also expressed concern about the project.
However, there is “major consensus” in favor of the project in the North Slope region, said Nagruk Hercharek, president of the Voices of Arctic Inupiat group.
Building on President Barack Obama’s actions in 2016 on the Chukotka Marine Plan area and much of the Beaufort Sea, the conservation effort will fully protect the entire Beaufort Marine Plan area on Sunday, according to the White House. announced.
Separately, the administration moved to protect more than 13 million acres within oil reserves. This is his 23 million acres of land on Alaska’s North Slope, set aside a century ago for future oil production.
The Willow Project is located within the reserve and ConocoPhillips has long held a lease on the site. About half of reserves are off-limits to oil and gas leases under Obama-era rules that the Biden administration reinstated last year.
Protected areas include Tesekupuk Lake, Utskok Highlands, Colville River, Kasegalk Lagoon, and Peard Bay Territory. These areas are known as globally important habitats for grizzly bears, polar bears, reindeer and hundreds of thousands of migratory birds.
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Associated Press writers Becky Boehler of Juneau, Alaska and Matthew Brown of Billings, Montana contributed to this article.
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