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The Interior Department has released its final environmental review of ConocoPhillips’ proposed Willow oil and gas project in Alaska. Despite claiming to have “substantial concerns” about the environmental impact of the project, the Biden administration appears poised to approve the massive Willow project. The Bureau of Land Management now estimates that Willow will produce up to 278 million metric tons of carbon dioxide over the next 30 years.
"Planting trees cannot offset the carbon bomb that President Biden is about to unleash in the Arctic. If Willow is built, it will undermine all of the president’s renewable energy efforts so far," Center for Western Priorities Deputy Director Aaron Weiss said in a statement. "It makes no sense that the Interior department is rushing to drill in the Arctic while it drags its heels implementing the oil and gas reform measures that Congress ordered in the Inflation Reduction Act."
The Interior Department now has at least 30 days to issue a final decision. While it could decide to deny the project, this outcome appears unlikely. "It’s not too late to change course," Weiss said, "but President Biden needs to think hard about his legacy on America’s public lands. He’s making big promises for the future, but his actions today take the country in the wrong direction."
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Concerns mean nothing if you're unwilling to act on them.”
