[ The groups charge BLM with failing to consider the project’s
impacts on lands used for subsistence by Alaska Natives and argue the
Fish and Wildlife Service failed to properly consider Willow’s
potential impacts on endangered species such as polar bears.]
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GREENS SUE BIDEN OVER WILLOW OIL PROJECT APPROVAL  
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Alex Guillen
March 14, 2023
Politico
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_ The groups charge BLM with failing to consider the project’s
impacts on lands used for subsistence by Alaska Natives and argue the
Fish and Wildlife Service failed to properly consider Willow’s
potential impacts on endangered species such as polar bears. _

President Joe Biden’s decision to allow ConocoPhillips to build its
massive project on federal land in the Alaska wilderness has caused an
uproar among environmentalists., | Mark Thiessen/AP Photo

 

A coalition of environmental groups on Tuesday filed a quick legal
challenge against the the Biden administration’s decision to
approve the controversial Willow oil project in Alaska.

Biden’s decision to allow ConocoPhillips to build its massive
project on federal land in the Alaska wilderness has caused an uproar
among environmentalists
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They argued in their lawsuit that the approval violated four
environmental laws despite the fact that the Bureau of Land Management
greenlit a smaller version of the project than ConocoPhillips had
sought.

“Willow would result in the construction and operation of extensive
oil and gas and other infrastructure in sensitive arctic habitats and
will significantly impact the region’s wildlife, air, water, lands,
and people,” the groups wrote in their lawsuit, which asks the
Alaskan court to vacate the Biden administration’s approval of the
project.

BLM failed to follow requirements under the National Environmental
Policy Act to consider alternatives that would lessen the project’s
impact on the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska, or NPR-A, or to
take a required “hard look” at the project’s cumulative impacts,
including on climate change, the suit alleges.

The groups also charge BLM with failing to consider the project’s
impacts on lands used for subsistence by Alaska Natives. And the suit
argues the Fish and Wildlife Service failed to properly consider
Willow’s potential impacts on endangered species such as polar
bears.

“Interior attempted to put a shiny gloss over a structurally unsound
decision that will, without question, result in a massive fossil fuel
project that will reduce access to food and cultural practices for
local communities,” Bridget Psarianos, lead attorney for Trustees
for Alaska, which represents the environmental groups, said in a
statement. “This new decision allows ConocoPhillips to pump out
massive amounts of greenhouse gases that drive continued climate
devastation in the Arctic and world. The laws broken on the way to
these permits demonstrate the government’s disregard for those who
would be most directly harmed by industrial pollution and ignores
Alaska’s and the world’s climate reality.”

Willow is estimated to produce about 600 million barrels of oil, with
production projected to be over 180,000 barrels of oil per day at its
peak.

The project is also expected to generate around 280 million tons a
year of greenhouse gases over its expected 30-year lifetime — the
equivalent of two coal-burning power plants every year, according to
government estimates.

The Alaskan court in 2021 overturned a Trump-era approval of the
project after determining its underlying environmental analysis was
flawed.

The suit was brought in the U.S. District Court for the District of
Alaska by the Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, Alaska
Wilderness League, Environment America, Northern Alaska Environmental
Center, Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society.

The groups said a second suit spearheaded by Earthjustice, which had
previously said it was reviewing the administration’s analysis of
the project’s environmental impact as a basis for a possible
lawsuit, will be filed soon as well.

The Interior Department declined to comment. The White House could not
be immediately reached for comment.

_Alex Guillén is an energy reporter for POLITICO Pro, where he covers
EPA, the Clean Air Act, coal, mining and other energy regulatory
issues._

 

* Willow Oil Project; President Biden; Alaska; Climate Crisis
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* Environmental Protests
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