US President Joe Biden will soon decide whether to approve or reject a significant oil drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope.
Environmentalists are exerting increased pressure on the White House to uphold Biden’s campaign commitments on combating climate change as the decision nears.
The Democratic contender for president in 2020 committed not to support any new leases for oil and gas development on public lands.
Yet, Biden is currently embroiled in a protracted legal dispute over the so-called Willow Project, an effort by US energy company ConocoPhillips to pump for oil in Alaska’s pristine western Arctic National Petroleum Reserve, which is held by the government.
The Trump administration approved the Willow Project at the tail end of the former president’s term but it was blocked by a judge for further review.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in an environmental impact analysis in February, approved three drilling sites while striking down one and deferring consideration of another.
ConocoPhillips welcomed the BLM’s assessment, saying it can ‘provide a viable path forward for development of our leasehold.’
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