Biden Hears Oval Office Plea for Alaska Oil Project in Lobbying Frenzy

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(Bloomberg) — Alaska’s congressional delegation personally appealed to President Joe Biden to approve a proposed ConocoPhillips oil development in the state, joining a last-minute lobbying frenzy around the project that’s being cast as a test of his commitment to combating climate change. 

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The lawmakers, including freshman Democratic Representative Mary Peltola, said they made their case for authorizing the plan to allow drilling from three locations at the Willow project during an Oval Office meeting on Thursday that lasted more than an hour. 

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In a joint statement, the lawmakers called the conversation with Biden and senior aides “honest and respectful,” saying they “appreciated the president’s recognition of how critical this moment is for Alaska’s future our nation’s energy transition.”

The $8 billion project is forecast eventually to yield 180,000 barrels per day of crude, or about 1.6% of current US production, with a cumulative output of about 600 million barrels. The Interior Department could issue a final decision as soon as Monday. 

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Willow presents Biden with his biggest climate and energy decision yet. Although the president campaigned on a pledge to block new drilling on public lands and accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels, he has also pressed oil companies to boost output to tame prices. The project also has drawn support from Alaska labor unions and many indigenous communities — important constituencies for the White House.

“The president has all the information he needs to make the right decision for Alaska and for the nation, and re-approve a three-pad, economically viable Willow project alternative without delay,” the Alaska lawmakers said. 

Protesters opposed to the project rallied outside the White House on Friday. Siqiniq Maupin, executive director of Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, argued that approval of a project estimated to unleash 280 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions would undermine Biden’s climate commitments. 

“He has the power to stop this climate disaster and be on the right side of history,” Maupin said. 

Almost two dozen congressional Democrats told Biden in a letter on Friday there’s legal authority for Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to block proposed drilling under existing leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska if necessary to mitigate “significantly adverse effects” on its surface resources.