US President Joe Biden is preparing a final decision on the amount of oil willow in Alaska that will prevent or limit oil drilling of 16 million acres in Alaska and the Arctic Ocean, a US government official said on Sunday.
The announcement, expected Sunday night, would ban nearly 3 million acres of the Arctic Ocean — leaving the rest of its federal waters off limits to oil exploration and drilling on more than 13 million acres in the vast field. which is the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska.
The official requested anonymity to talk about the matter before it is officially released.
It comes as regulators prepare to announce a final decision on the $8 billion Willow project, a controversial ConocoPhillips-sponsored oil drilling project on oil reserves. Climate activists protested the plan, calling it “carbon bombs,” a betrayal of the Biden campaign’s promise to curb new oil and gas development.
But lawmakers, unions and Alaska Native communities pressured Biden to pass the bill, saying it would create jobs and billions of dollars in tax and funding cuts for a vast region covered in snow and ice nearly 965 kilometers (600 miles) out. station Sen. Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, declared Willow “one of the largest and most important development projects in our state’s history.”
Biden’s decision on Willows will be one of the most important climate decisions as he prepares for a likely 2024 re-election bid. The plan to approve the dangerous willows alienated young voters who urged the White House for stronger climate action and social media was flooded with calls to stop the willows project.
The test also triggered protests similar to those that took place against the failed Keystone XL pipeline during the administration of Barack Obama. ___ Daly was reported from London.
