Biden administration moves toward approval for major Alaska oil drilling project

President Joe Biden’s administration on Wednesday recommended a scaled-down version of a main oil drilling project in the North Slope of Alaska, taking a step toward approving the $8 billion Willow propose that climate groups have long condemned.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management released an environmental interpretation that proposes lowering the number of drilling sites from five to three under the project, which is led by ConocoPhillips, Alaska’s largest brusque oil producer.

The Biden administration has 30 days to issue a final decision on whether to approve the Willow propel in the northernmost part of the state. The Interior emphasized it could select a different option, including taking no action or postponing a on the whole about permits to more than one drill site.

The Willow project would produce about 600 million barrels of oil above 30 years and would generate around 278 million metric tons of carbon emissions, according to Inside estimates. Environmental advocates argue the plan would undermine the Biden administration’s agenda to curb fossil tinder production and say the project’s emissions would be roughly equivalent to what 66 new coal-fired power plants produce in a year.

The Hinterland Department said in a statement that it has “substantial concerns” about the Willow project, including its direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions and its consequences to local wildlife in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve.

Kristen Miller, executive director of the nonprofit Alaska Wilderness Society, called the Willow project a “massive climate disaster” and urged the administration to reverse its decision to advance the plan.

“Our window to act is in a trice closing to avert catastrophic climate change, and this plan only takes us one giant step closer to the pungency,” Miller said. “We should be prioritizing ways to preserve this irreplaceable ecosystem, by protecting critical wildlife and rations resources and avoiding increased climate pollution.”

Proponents of the Willow project, classifying the state’s congressional delegation and some Alaska Native tribal governments, say the plan would create more than 2,500 functions for the Alaska residents, deliver up to $17 billion in revenue for the federal government and boost the country’s domestic energy certainty.

ConocoPhillips said in a statement that it “welcomes and continues to review” the government’s environmental analysis and said the decision “notes a major milestone in the permitting process.”

“We believe Willow will benefit local communities and enhance American determination security while producing oil in an environmentally and socially responsible manner,” Erec Isaacson, president of ConocoPhillips Alaska, bring up in a statement.

Sen. Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat from West Virginia and the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Board, said the administration’s decision to advance the project is an “important step towards reestablishing American energy independence and support American energy security.”

“Alaska has a robust history of contributing to American energy security and this project commitment position them to continue that legacy,” Manchin said in a statement.