Biden approves major oil development in Alaska

[Sundancefisher]

It will mean constant tanker traffic. 2 million cars worth of CO2… but wouldn’t approve Canada’s Keystone XL pipeline.

Trudeau should now be going… hmmm. Looks like Biden is concerned about the economy and jobs whereas Trudeau isn’t.

Maybe Trudeau will double down and hurt The economy even more to offset the US project?

https://www.accuweather.com/en/clima...alaska/1496672

Biden administration approves controversial Willow oil project in Alaska, which has galvanized online activism

More than one million letters have been sent to the White House in protest of the drilling venture.
By Ella Nilsen, CNN,
Published Mar 13, 2023 9:36 AM MDT | Updated Mar 13, 2023 2:12 PM MDT
Copied

An exploratory drilling camp at the proposed site of the Willow oil project on Alaska's North Slope. (ConocoPhillips/AP)
(CNN) -- The Biden administration has approved the massive Willow oil drilling project in Alaska, angering climate advocates and setting the stage for a court challenge.

The Willow Project is a decadeslong oil drilling venture in the National Petroleum Reserve, which is owned by the federal government. The area where the project is planned holds up to 600 million barrels of oil, though that oil would take years to reach the market since the project has yet to be constructed.

By the administration's own estimates, the project would generate enough oil to release 9.2 million metric tons of planet-warming carbon pollution a year -- equivalent to adding 2 million gas-powered cars to the roads.

The approval is a victory for Alaska's bipartisan congressional delegation and a coalition of Alaska Native tribes and groups who hailed the drilling venture as a much-needed new source of revenue and jobs for the remote region.

Around the Web
Sponsored by Revcontent
15 Worst Foods For Breakfast
15 Worst Foods For Breakfast
HEALTH NATURAL
Mix Vaseline and Toothpaste and Watch What Happens
Mix Vaseline and Toothpaste and Watch What Happens
HEALTH REVIEW
Remember Tiger Woods' Ex-wife? Try Not to Gasp when You See Her Now
Remember Tiger Woods' Ex-wife? Try Not to Gasp when You See Her Now
NEWZGEEKS.NET
"We finally did it, Willow is finally reapproved, and we can almost literally feel Alaska's future brightening because of it," Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said in a statement, adding that Alaska is "now on the cusp of creating thousands of new jobs, generating billions of dollars in new revenues" and "improving quality of life on the North Slope and across our state."

But it is a major blow to climate groups and Alaska Natives who opposed Willow and argued the project will hurt the president's ambitious climate goals and pose health and environmental risks.

Project galvanized anti-Willow effort


Climate activists gather to protest with demanding President Biden stop the Willow Project by unfurling a banner on the Lafayette Square in front of the White House on Jan. 10, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The project has galvanized an uprising of online activism against it, including more than one million letters written to the White House in protest of the project, and a Change.org petition with millions of signatures.

Environmental advocates are expected to challenge the project in court. Earthjustice, an environmental law group, has been preparing a case against the project and intends to argue the Biden administration's authority to protect resources on Alaska's public lands includes taking steps to reduce planet-warming carbon pollution, which the Willow Project would ultimately add to.

Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen blasted the administration's decision on Monday.

"We are too late in the climate crisis to approve massive oil and gas projects that directly undermine the new clean economy that the Biden Administration committed to advancing," Dillen said. "We know President Biden understands the existential threat of climate, but he is approving a project that derails his own climate goals."

'A new opportunity'

Yet federal lawmakers from Alaska cheered the decision, calling it a win for the state.

"After years of consistent, determined advocacy for this project, from people all across the state and from every walk of life, the Willow Project is finally moving forward," said Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, the first Alaska Native in Congress. "I would like to thank the President and his administration for listening to the voices of Alaskans when it mattered most."

Alaska Native groups who wanted the project for the jobs and revenue it would bring to the region also hailed the decision.

Nagruk Harcharek, president of the advocacy group Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, said in a statement Monday that his group was "grateful" to President Joe Biden and his senior advisers for approving the project and "heeding the will of Alaska Native communities in support of the Willow Project."

"The Willow Project is a new opportunity to ensure a viable future for our communities, creating generational economic stability for our people and advancing our self-determination," Harcharek said.

In recent weeks, the Biden administration had looked at reducing the number of approved drilling pads down to two and boosting nature conservation measures to try to assuage concerns climate and environmental groups had about the project. Reducing the drill-pads to two would have allowed the company to drill about 70% of the oil they were initially seeking.


ConocoPhillips is already working in Alaska, with its North Slope footprint shown here. The federal government on Monday gave approval for the company's Willow oil project in Alaska. (Photo courtesy of ConocoPhillips)
But ConocoPhillips and Alaska's bipartisan congressional delegation aggressively lobbied the Biden White House and Interior Department for months to approve three drilling pads, saying the project would not be economically viable with two.

The venture was ultimately approved with three drilling pads. The administration felt it was constrained legally and had few options to cancel or significantly curtail the project -- which was initially approved by the Trump administration. The administration determined that legally, courts wouldn't have allowed them to fully reject the project, two government sources familiar with the approval told CNN.

The final scope of the project will cover 68,000 fewer acres than what ConocoPhillips was initially seeking, the sources said.

"This was the right decision for Alaska and our nation," Ryan Lance, ConocoPhillips chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "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."

Sweeping new protections

Biden on Monday also announced sweeping new protections for federal land and waters in Alaska in tandem with Willow approval.

The White House on Monday made the entire U.S. Arctic Ocean off limits to future oil and gas leasing. The administration will also later announce new rules to protect more than 13 million acres in the federal National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska from drilling.

In all, the administration will move to protect up to 16 million acres from future fossil fuel leasing.

The protections will extend to the Teshekpuk Lake, Utukok Uplands, Colville River, Kasegaluk Lagoon and Peard Bay special areas -- places that are important habitats for grizzly bears, polar bears, caribou and migratory birds.

On Sunday, an administration official said the administration views the new actions as a "firewall" against both future fossil fuel leasing and expansion of existing projects on the North Slope.

As he lauded the decision to approve the Willow Project, Sen. Dan Sullivan, an Alaska Republican, criticized the forthcoming protective measures.

"The fact that this Willow [approval] comes with the announcement of future legally-dubious resource development restrictions on Alaska lands and waters is infuriating and demonstrates that the Biden Administration's unprecedented lock-up of our state will continue," Sullivan said in a statement.

Sullivan told reporters on Monday that the Biden administration assured him that the existing lease rights in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska would not be affected by the new rules.

Environmental groups lashed out at the Biden administration for its approval of Willow and said the increased protections for other Arctic regions will not undo the harm the project will cause.

Tiernan Sittenfeld, the senior vice president of government affairs for the League of Conservation Voters, said the league is "extremely disappointed" in the decision, calling the project "dangerous" and "dirty."

"This is in direct conflict with the Biden-Harris administration's goals of cutting climate pollution in half by 2030, and it's now all the more important they double down on executive action that maximizes climate and conservation progress," Sittenfeld said in a statement. "The new protections announced for the threatened Arctic are important, but they do not make up for Willow's approval."

Lena Moffitt, the executive director of Evergreen Action, which advocates for strong climate change policies, called the approval "an unacceptable departure from President Biden's promises to the American people on climate and environmental justice."

The Alaska Wilderness League, which works to protect Alaska's natural areas from industry and fossil fuel drilling, said it was "deeply disappointed" in the approval.

"This is the wrong decision for our climate future, for protecting biodiversity, and for honoring the frontline communities who have raised their voices against this project," said Kristen Miller, the executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League.

Sen. Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat, called the approval from Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland "disappointing."

"The western Arctic is one of the last great wild landscapes on the planet," Heinrich said in a statement. "Industrial development in this unspoiled landscape will not age well."

[Big Grey Wolf]

I think Biden finally realizes we will be using large amounts of hydrocarbon energy well into 2050. It is only our fool in Ottawa that thinks windmills will fly our airplanes by 2030.

[Bigwoodsman]

[QUOTE=Sundancefisher;4618426]It will mean constant tanker traffic. 2 million cars worth of CO2… but wouldn’t approve Canada’s Keystone XL pipeline.

Trudeau should now be going… hmmm. Looks like Biden is concerned about the economy and jobs whereas Trudeau isn’t.

Maybe Trudeau will double down and hurt The economy even more to offset the US project?

China's puppet in Ottawa will need to get clearance from Beijing before making any decisions.

BW

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by Sundancefisher

It will mean constant tanker traffic. 2 million cars worth of CO2… but wouldn’t approve Canada’s Keystone XL pipeline.

Why tap into the SPR right now?
It's being saved as it will be needed one day

[Smokinyotes]

Originally Posted by MountainTi

Why tap into the SPR right now?
It's being saved as it will be needed one day

What’s a spr

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by Smokinyotes

What’s a spr

Strategic petroleum reserves

[hayseed]

Originally Posted by MountainTi

Why tap into the SPR right now?
It's being saved as it will be needed one day

Kinda what I was thinking..

[Drewski Canuck]

Originally Posted by MountainTi

Why tap into the SPR right now?
It's being saved as it will be needed one day

Here is the TRICKY PART of what you are suggesting.

SAVED FOR WHOM????

Canada's oil should be saved for Canada, and should NOT be the honey pot for a foreign Government. But we all know that Canada's oil is really just American Oil that they have not taken yet. Plain and Simple.

That is why Bejing is being told to butt out of Canada and get their oil from some other Sucker State.

Drewski

[Big Grey Wolf]

Drewski, well said, it is even worse dem Americans get our (their) Alberta oil (Western Select) on sale for $50/bbl when WTI is $80/bbl or more.

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

Here is the TRICKY PART of what you are suggesting.

SAVED FOR WHOM????

Canada's oil should be saved for Canada, and should NOT be the honey pot for a foreign Government. But we all know that Canada's oil is really just American Oil that they have not taken yet. Plain and Simple.

That is why Bejing is being told to butt out of Canada and get their oil from some other Sucker State.

Drewski

Thought that was implied when I said SPR.

Canada will never use all that we have. If it wasn't for the US, we would end up speaking a different language one day. Guess we kinda owe them

The US will need more of our oil one day. Only a fool would believe the world will wean itself off, or for that matter lessen the need of hydrocarbons
But then again, there are a lot of fools....

[Bigwoodsman]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

Here is the TRICKY PART of what you are suggesting.

SAVED FOR WHOM????

Canada's oil should be saved for Canada, and should NOT be the honey pot for a foreign Government. But we all know that Canada's oil is really just American Oil that they have not taken yet. Plain and Simple.

That is why Bejing is being told to butt out of Canada and get their oil from some other Sucker State.

Drewski

Well said. And this is why China is so interested in controlling our government.

Originally Posted by MountainTi

Thought that was implied when I said SPR.

Canada will never use all that we have. If it wasn't for the US, we would end up speaking a different language one day. Guess we kinda owe them

The US will need more of our oil one day. Only a fool would believe the world will wean itself off, or for that matter lessen the need of hydrocarbons
But then again, there are a lot of fools....

And were unfortunately lucky enough to have the world's most famous Fool at the helm.

BW

[barbless]

So with all the new tanker traffic, will they be going through or around Canadian waters? Or will they be granted free run of wherever they choose to sail the ocean blue?

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by Bigwoodsman

And were unfortunately lucky enough to have the world's most famous Fool at the helm.

BW

That we do....by far, but if the US wants to swing it's big stick, Lil' Castro can't do much

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by barbless

So with all the new tanker traffic, will they be going through or around Canadian waters? Or will they be granted free run of wherever they choose to sail the ocean blue?

They will most likely be cruising right by the port where the northern gateway should be shipping out of lol

[hayseed]

Originally Posted by MountainTi

That we do....by far, but if the US wants to swing it's big stick, Lil' Castro can't do much

True that, and Biden falls up the stairs daily.. god help us all..

[270person]

Originally Posted by hayseed

True that, and Biden falls up the stairs daily.. god help us all..

But, he does it without toilet paper stuck to the bottom of his shoes and his combover blowing 3 feet to one side. So there's always that.

[EZM]

This just proves that even Biden, sitting at the kids table with his juice box and animal crackers with a crayon up his nose is smarter compared to Trudeau.

This will end up hurting Canada's position globally as a major oil producer and drive our prices down as this capacity comes online to compete with us to service global demand. Trudeau's "environment at all costs" policy, effectively stopped investment here in Canada (to benefit Canadians) - so if we won't develop capacity, the US is happy to do it themselves and benefit themselves.

What a continuation of a big joke. Canada cannot afford Trudeau or his virtue signaling at the expense of people like you and me any longer.

Either way, good on Biden, and good for America - Canada .... not so much

[EZM]

Originally Posted by MountainTi

They will most likely be cruising right by the port where the northern gateway should be shipping out of lol

YUP - 100%

I would laugh with you, if what you said didn't ring so painfully true. It's hard to laugh when you are crying with frustration.

Trudeau must go. His blocking and virtue signaling is driving our economy to the ground.

[jungleboy]

Originally Posted by EZM

This just proves that even Biden, sitting at the kids table with his juice box and animal crackers with a crayon up his nose is smarter compared to Trudeau.

This will end up hurting Canada's position globally as a major oil producer and drive our prices down as this capacity comes online to compete with us to service global demand. Trudeau's "environment at all costs" policy, effectively stopped investment here in Canada (to benefit Canadians) - so if we won't develop capacity, the US is happy to do it themselves and benefit themselves.

What a continuation of a big joke. Canada cannot afford Trudeau or his virtue signaling at the expense of people like you and me any longer.

Either way, good on Biden, and good for America - Canada .... not so much

And how much better off would we have been if Trump stayed in office and we got to Finnish the pipeline that Biden cancelled.

I guess we will never know.

[MountainTi]

Biden never made this decision

[EZM]

Originally Posted by MountainTi

Biden never made this decision

I may be mistaken, but I was under the distinct impression that the president was the one person who could ultimately approve the project due to the nature of the legislation applied to land use for that energy reserve???

I thought he had to approve it himself otherwise it wasn't happening.

Maybe I'm wrong.

[does it ALL outdoors]

Originally Posted by 270person

But, he does it without toilet paper stuck to the bottom of his shoes and his combover blowing 3 feet to one side. So there's always that.

Like Ernie McCracken.

IMG_0016.JPG

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by EZM

I may be mistaken, but I was under the distinct impression that the president was the one person who could ultimately approve the project due to the nature of the legislation applied to land use for that energy reserve???

I thought he had to approve it himself otherwise it wasn't happening.

Maybe I'm wrong.

Oh I'm sure he signed where he was told to and did his best at reading the teleprompter, but lord help us if he is making the big boy decisions.

[EZM]

Originally Posted by MountainTi

Oh I'm sure he signed where he was told to and did his best at reading the teleprompter, but lord help us if he is making the big boy decisions.

They just put the paperwork on top of his coloring book and let him scribble ....

The guy has no idea where he is half the time.

The good news is he can hide his own Easter eggs and buy himself gifts and still be surprised.

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by EZM

They just put the paperwork on top of his coloring book and let him scribble ....

The guy has no idea where he is half the time.

The good news is he can hide his own Easter eggs and buy himself gifts and still be surprised.

This should be a good indication old pedo joe has been a bumbling idiot for quite some time.
Still can't believe he was voted in, it says a lot about those who voted for him.
Guess we have the same problem up here though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn1nAfoXZrM

[hayseed]

Originally Posted by EZM

They just put the paperwork on top of his coloring book and let him scribble ....

The guy has no idea where he is half the time.

The good news is he can hide his own Easter eggs and buy himself gifts and still be surprised.

Now that’s funny!!!

And true!!

[Sundog57]

So we can go ahead slag Biden - easy target

What does Biden have that Trudeau doesn't?

An understanding that if your country doesn't produce wealth there are no tax revenues to **** out the window on unicorns.

Of course there is the issue that the Keystone XL cancellation was greenwashed, but what do they say?
Follow the money...
Where is the US getting heavy oil to replace the stuff that would have come from Alberta?
Venezuela,
why?
Venezuela owes Chevron $2 billion and there was no way in hell that they were ever going to be able to get that money back, so now they're taking it in discounted heavy oil under a special exemption to the embargo
Convenient eh?
Sleepy Joe might be sleepy, but he seems to know which side his bread is buttered on, whereas Junior is still waiting for Mummy to bring him his breakfast

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by Sundog57

So we can go ahead slag Biden - easy target

What does Biden have that Trudeau doesn't?

An understanding that if your country doesn't produce wealth there are no tax revenues to **** out the window on unicorns.

Of course there is the issue that the Keystone XL cancellation was greenwashed, but what do they say?
Follow the money...
Where is the US getting heavy oil to replace the stuff that would have come from Alberta?
Venezuela,
why?
Venezuela owes Chevron $2 billion and there was no way in hell that they were ever going to be able to get that money back, so now they're taking it in discounted heavy oil under a special exemption to the embargo
Convenient eh?
Sleepy Joe might be sleepy, but he seems to know which side his bread is buttered on, whereas Junior is still waiting for Mummy to bring him his breakfast

I'm gonna guess those behind the scenes in the US (those that make the actual decisions) have common sense as well as an IQ larger than their shoe size.

The clown show in ottawa.....well you know....

[6.5 shooter]

Originally Posted by 270person

But, he does it without toilet paper stuck to the bottom of his shoes and his combover blowing 3 feet to one side. So there's always that.

Some people just can't get over TDS. Time for the red pill?

[buckman]

[QUOTE=Bigwoodsman;4618434]

Originally Posted by Sundancefisher

It will mean constant tanker traffic. 2 million cars worth of CO2… but wouldn’t approve Canada’s Keystone XL pipeline.

Trudeau should now be going… hmmm. Looks like Biden is concerned about the economy and jobs whereas Trudeau isn’t.

Maybe Trudeau will double down and hurt The economy even more to offset the US project?

China's puppet in Ottawa will need to get clearance from Beijing before making any decisions.

BW

Its mostly about Alberta for Trudeau,he hates us because of his Father and the NEP. He should practice some green and clean living himself,two face Bar....d.