Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** A Trump-era plan to drill in the Arctic is back. Will Biden stop it?
------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, January 24, 2022
The proposed Willow project is in the northeastern corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Bureau of Land Management, F ([link removed]) lickr ([link removed])
A major Trump-era proposal to drill in Alaska's Arctic is back ([link removed]) up for approval, after a federal judge temporarily halted the project in August 2021 ([link removed]) . President Joe Biden has so far defended the project, despite the fact that it flies in the face of his administration's stated goal of setting the nation on a path to net-zero emissions by 2050. Environmental and Indigenous groups are hoping he'll change his position.
ConocoPhillips' proposed Willow project is expected to produce up to 590 million barrels of oil ([link removed]) over 30 years. Burning that much oil would result in greenhouse gas emissions roughly equivalent to r ([link removed]) unning 65 coal plants for a year ([link removed]) .
“We’ve been clear from the beginning that it’s an unacceptable project,” said Jeremy Lieb ([link removed]) , a senior associate attorney at Earthjustice, an environmental law firm that represented advocates in one of the lawsuits that led to the August ruling.
The project was approved under former president Donald Trump, but the approval was thrown out over the summer ([link removed]) by a federal judge who ruled the approval failed to account for the full scope of greenhouse gas emissions or for dangers to wildlife, including polar bears. Now, the Bureau of Land Management is redoing the project's environmental assessment, which could again result in its approval.
Biden's record on fossil fuels has been mixed so far ([link removed]) , and whether or not his administration approves the Willow project will have a defining effect on his environmental and climate legacy.
Quick hits
** Electric vehicles drive demand for production of "green metals"
------------------------------------------------------------
High Country News ([link removed])
** City of Los Angeles considers banning oil and gas drilling, phasing out existing wells
------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press ([link removed])
** Tiny insects threaten survival of Southwest's aspen trees
------------------------------------------------------------
Arizona Central ([link removed])
** Big Oil board members to testify in House investigation into climate disinformation
------------------------------------------------------------
Reuters ([link removed])
** Jicarilla Apache Nation agrees to lease Colorado River water rights to New Mexico
------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press ([link removed])
** Firefighters begin to control unseasonable California wildfire
------------------------------------------------------------
Reuters ([link removed])
** Editorial: Utah provides example of how investing in renewable energy can pay off
------------------------------------------------------------
Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])
** Aerial survey identifies methane "super-emitters" in Permian
------------------------------------------------------------
Reuters ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” The Biden administration has not yet found the political courage necessary to confront the realities of climate change... We need the administration to act boldly.”
—California Rep. Alan Lowenthal on last year's Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale, E ([link removed]) &E News ([link removed])
Picture this
** @P ([link removed]) etrifiedNPS ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Late afternoon light bathes the badlands around Rainbow Forest, petrified logs in the foreground. Credit NPS/Hallie Larsen (hl) #scenic ([link removed]) #ScenicSunday ([link removed]) #PetrifiedForest ([link removed])
============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Medium ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
Copyright © 2022 Center for Western Priorities, All rights reserved.
You've signed up to receive Look West updates.
Center for Western Priorities
1999 Broadway
Suite 520
Denver, CO 80202
USA
** View this on the web ([link removed])
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
