Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan

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TikTok push targets Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A social media campaign urging President Joe Biden to reject an oil development project on Alaska’s remote North Slope has rapidly gained steam on TikTok and other platforms, reflecting the unease many young Americans feel about climate change.

https://apnews.com/article/alaska-oil-biden-tiktok-willow-climate-conocophillips-0d6837053e703fa3b3c7084646e7d5d9

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Willow oil project approval intensifies Alaska Natives’ rift

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Biden administration’s approval this week of the biggest oil drilling project in Alaska in decades promises to widen a rift among Alaska Natives, with some saying that oil money can’t counter the damages caused by climate change and others defending the project as economically vital.

https://apnews.com/article/oil-drilling-willow-alaska-natives-biden-41a725010e9500628318cd9c56e0d700?

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Haaland criticized over ‘difficult’ choice on Willow project

WASHINGTON (AP) — In early March, President Joe Biden met with members of Alaska’s bipartisan congressional delegation as they implored him to approve a contentious oil drilling project in their state. Around the same time, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland held a very different meeting on the same topic.

https://apnews.com/article/biden-climate-haaland-willow-alaska-oil-2ed1969b5a6e79bdbbae33f1049c8d41

Biden climate legacy tested by backlash over Willow project

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Elise Joshi was at the White House last year, her eyes welled with happy tears as President Joe Biden hosted thousands of supporters to celebrate groundbreaking legislation targeting climate change.

https://apnews.com/article/biden-climate-change-willow-alaska-oil-drilling-cef43cf85cfbc92eb9bb2bf09e488db8

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Biden administration cancels remaining oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic Refuge Angering Republicans, the Biden administration canceled the seven remaining oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Wednesday, overturning sales held in the Trump administration’s waning days. The administration proposed stronger protections against development on vast swaths of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Read more.

Why this matters: The Interior Department’s move comes after the Biden administration disappointed environmental groups earlier this year by approving the Willow oil project in the petroleum reserve, a massive endeavor by ConocoPhillips Alaska that could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day on Alaska’s North Slope. Some critics who said the approval of Willow flew in the face of Biden’s pledges to address climate change lauded Wednesday’s announcement. But they said more could be done.   Alaska’s Republican governor condemned Biden’s moves and threatened to sue. And at least one Democratic lawmaker said the decision could hurt Indigenous communities in an isolated region where oil development is an important economic driver.   The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s 1.5-million-acre coastal plain, which lies along the Beaufort Sea on Alaska’s northeastern edge, is seen as sacred by the Indigenous Gwich’in because it is where caribou migrate and come to give birth.

Related coverage ➤ EPA head says he’s ‘proud’ of decision to block Alaska mine and protect salmon-rich Bristol Bay Alaska’s Willow oil project is controversial. Here’s why. Alaska report details 280 missing Indigenous people, including whether disappearances are suspicious

 

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Biden administration restricts oil and gas leasing in 13 million acres of Alaska’s petroleum reserve

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Biden administration said Friday it will restrict new oil and gas leasing on 13 million acres (5.3 million hectares) of a federal petroleum reserve in Alaska to help protect wildlife such as caribou and polar bears as the Arctic continues to warm.

https://apnews.com/article/alaska-drilling-petroleum-reserve-biden-1dd8c07d2ed6e902ee6ac6298e2eaade?