The president of the United States, Joe Biden, approved this Monday a controversial oil extraction project in the state of Alaska, known as “Willow”, in a decision that has been strongly criticized by environmental groups.
The approval appears in a report made public this Monday on the website of the Department of the Interior and in which details of the project are offered, which will be led by the oil giant ConocoPhillips.
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The project will be located within the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve, on federal government public land, and about 200 miles north of the arctic circle, in what is considered to be one of the richest places in biodiversity and one of the least explored in the United States.
For now, the Biden government will only allow ConocoPhillips to start drilling for oil in three areas.
The company had asked to start drilling at two other points, but the Executive has postponed its decision on the matteraccording to the aforementioned report.
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According to ConocoPhillips, the project could produce 180,000 barrels of oil a day When you are at your peak performance, will create 250,000 jobs of jobs in its construction phase and another 300 permanent jobs when it is operational.
Likewise, the “Willow” project will create between 8,000 and 17,000 million dollars in revenue through taxes for the federal government, the state of Alaska and area local governments, ConocoPhillips states on its website.
Dozens of environmental groups, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), have criticized Biden’s decision on Monday, considering that reneges on promises it made to reduce greenhouse gases and promote clean energy.
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Several groups have also warned that they will consider different options, including suing the Biden government in court, to stop the project.
Environmental groups oppose the “Willow” project by consider that it will pollute Alaska’s water and air and will impact the migratory patterns of animals.
In addition, it will end up releasing into the air some 239 million metric tons of greenhouse gases over the 30 years of the project’s useful life, according to two dozen organizations, including the Alaska Wilderness League, in a joint statement.
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Shortly after the announcement on the “Willow” project, the White House approved the imposition of limits on oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean and on the North Slope of Alaska, in a apparent effort to please to environmental groups.
However, those restrictions will only affect future projects. and not those that have already been approved, details the White House in a memorandum made public this Monday. Therefore, it will have no impact on the “Willow” project.
EFE
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