Biden to declare Arctic Ocean off limits to oil and gas leasing when he announces protections for over 16 million acres in Alaska
The president will declare the entire Arctic Ocean off limits to oil and gas leasing and development, according to a White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement.
The announcement comes as the administration is poised to approve the multibillion-dollar Willow project on Alaska’s North Slope as soon as Monday, according to two individuals briefed on the matter who asked for anonymity in order to discuss private deliberations.The White House official declined to confirm the timing of the Willow decision. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stressed on Friday that a final decision on the project had not been made.
The new protections appear intended as an olive branch to environmentalists and young voters who have blasted the approval of Willow, calling it incompatible with the president’s ambitious climate goals. The approval of the project near the city of Nuiqsut would likely allow the construction of hundreds of miles of roads and pipelines, airstrips, a gravel mine and a processing facility.
The new protections will extend to the Teshekpuk Lake as well as the Utukok Uplands, Colville River, Kasegaluk Lagoon and Peard Bay Special Areas, according to the White House official. The region around Nuiqsut is one of the fastest-warming places on Earth. Its average temperature has risen 4 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels — more than three times the global average, according to a
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