USA 2024 Elections Thread

[grarpamp]

Two-Faced Biden (King of the Woke Dems) immolates himself again...


Biden Gives Go-Ahead To Giant Alaska Oil Project, 'Green's Furious

Well this is a little awkward...

President Biden pledged during the election campaign: "I guarantee you
we’re going to end fossil fuels."

The same President Biden today has - much to the angst of
conservationists - authorized a giant ConocoPhillips oil project in
northwest Alaska.

https://www.change.org/p/joseph-r-biden-biden-administration-and-conocophillips-say-no-to-the-willow-project

The $8 billion Willow oil field development project was initially
proposed in 2018. It is set within the 23 million-acre National
Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA), the largest expanse of federal public
lands in the country, located on Alaska’s North Slope.

ConocoPhillips had initially proposed five pads as part of the
project. In the oil industry, a pad refers to a temporary drilling
site. Under the Trump administration, the Department of the Interior
(DOI) had approved the proposal in October 2020.

But a lawsuit by multiple groups, including Earthjustice, forced the
U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to recommend scaling down the
number of pads from five to three.

Biden's Willow plan would allow three drill sites initially, the
sources said, which project developer ConocoPhillips has said would
include about 219 total wells.

A fourth drill site proposed for the project  would be denied. The
company has said it considers the three-site option workable.

The authorization represents one of the most significant climate
decisions yet for Biden

ConcoPhillips welcomed the decision, issuing a statement that it
expects to immediately initiate gravel road construction activities

    “This was the right decision for Alaska and our nation,” said Ryan
Lance, ConocoPhillips chairman and chief executive officer.

    “Willow fits within the Biden Administration’s priorities on
environmental and social justice, facilitating the energy transition
and enhancing our energy security, all while creating good union jobs
and providing benefits to Alaska Native communities.”

As we detailed previously, environmental activists have vehemently
opposed the project, citing pollution concerns. A petition at
Change.org asking the Biden administration to not allow the Willow
project has garnered more than three million signatures.

    “If this project were to be approved, Willow would emit more
climate pollution annually than more than 99.7 percent of all
single-point sources in the country. The first oil to be used from
this project wouldn’t be for years,” the petition insists.

Christy Goldfuss, a former Obama White House official who now is a
policy chief at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said she was
“deeply disappointed'' at Biden's decision to approve Willow, which
NRDC estimates would generate planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions
equivalent to more than 1 million homes.

    "This decision is bad for the climate, bad for the environment and
bad for the Native Alaska communities who oppose this and feel their
voices were not heard,'' Goldfuss said.

However, lawmakers and trade unions from Alaska are pushing for the
Biden administration to approve the project that is expected to hire
2,500 construction workers in the state. Willow is projected to output
180,000 barrels of oil per day, or around 1.5 percent of total
American oil production.

Over its 30-year lifespan, Willow is expected to produce over 600
million barrels of oil while contributing up to $17 billion in
revenues for state and federal governments as well as local
communities.

However, in a clear appeasement of his 'green' base,  even as Willow
gets a green light, the Biden administration is moving to limit future
oil development across the 23 million-acre (93,000 square-kilometer)
NPR-A, which was set aside for energy supply needs roughly a century
ago. The Interior Department said it soon will propose a rule that
could prevent future oil and gas leasing across more than 13 million
acres of the Indiana-sized reserve.

As Bloomberg reports, environmentalists hailed the protections but
said they did nothing to offset the climate damage from approving the
Willow project.

    “Protecting one area of the Arctic so you can destroy another
doesn’t make sense, and it won’t help the people and wildlife who will
be upended by the Willow project,” said Kristen Monsell, a senior
attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.

    “We need to protect the entire Arctic and stop building massive
oil and gas developments that will contribute to greenhouse gas
emissions for years to come.”

Oil industry advocates argued the Biden administration moves
conflicted with a push for domestic energy security.

The Biden administration is forestalling “responsible development of
federal lands and waters,” and sending “mixed signals on energy
policy,” said Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president of policy for
the American Petroleum Institute.