Joe Biden to approve scaled-back version of $7bn oil and gas drilling project in Alaska
Joe Biden’s administration will approve a scaled-back version of a controversial $7bn oil and gas drilling project.
The move comes despite criticism from environmentalists who say the development of the three drill sites in northwestern Alaska conflicts with Mr Biden’s highly-publicised efforts to fight climate change.
The US president has also pledged to shift to cleaner sources of energy.
The administration’s decision is not likely to be the last word, with litigation expected from environmental groups.
However, the project, located in the federal government-owned National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, enjoys widespread political support in the state.
Mr Biden has been seeking to balance his goals of decarbonising the US economy with calls to increase domestic fuel supplies to keep prices low.
Houston-based crude oil producer ConocoPhillips had sought to build up to five drill sites, dozens of miles of roads, seven bridges and pipelines as part of the major Willow oil project.
The project could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day, create up to 2,500 jobs during construction and 300 long-term jobs, as well as generate billions of dollars in royalties and tax revenues for the federal, state and local governments, the company has said
There is politics at play and Biden has gambled
The US interior department’s approval of a colossal oil and gas project in pristine Alaska seems to run entirely counter to Joe Biden’s values as a leader focused on a green energy revolution at home.
The White House says it had limited options to prevent the drilling from going ahead, but there’s politics at play here too.
As the next election looms the president must guard against any suggestion or indeed perception that he has jeopardised either energy security or jobs in lower income states where they are desperately needed.
He will try to counteract the torrent of criticism he is facing by announcing new protections for federal lands and waters in Alaska.
But he has taken a gamble, particularly with the support of younger voters who backed him in large part because of his vision for tackling climate change.
So far, a million letters of protest have been sent to the White House and three million have signed an online petition.
Meanwhile, from floods to wildfires and drought, the effects of climate change are increasingly being felt across North America.
There is a real risk that the Willow project ages poorly, and instead of being a potential political asset to fend off Republican attacks on the green agenda, it becomes a liability.
The US department of the interior approved the project with three, rather than five, drill pads after saying last month that it was concerned about the greenhouse gas impacts of Willow.
Its bureau of land management’s “preferred alternative” also includes less surface infrastructure than originally proposed.
The department said on Monday its reduction of ConocoPhillips’ proposal by two drill pads would reduce the project’s freshwater use and prevent the development of 11 miles of roads, 20 miles of pipelines, and 133 acres of gravel.
ConocoPhillips and Alaska-elected officials endorsed that version of the project, which the agency has said would reduce the impact on habitats for species such as polar bears and yellow-billed loons.
Read more:
Wales gives green light to first floating wind farm
Proposed ‘Hydrogen Village’ which could see homes swap gas for hydrogen
Click to subscribe to ClimateCast with Tom Heap wherever you get your podcasts
The decision comes after the Biden administration on Sunday announced new protections for Alaskan land and water.
It said it would make nearly three million acres of the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean “indefinitely off limits” for oil and gas leasing, building on an Obama-era ban and effectively closing off US Arctic waters to oil exploration and issued protections for 13 million acres of “ecologically sensitive” special areas within Alaska’s petroleum reserve.
Environmental groups criticised the Biden administration, saying it was trying to have it “both ways” on climate change.
“Promoting clean energy development is meaningless if we continue to allow corporations to plunder and pollute as they wish,” Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch, said.
Police in Tennessee have discovered 14 improvised explosive devices in a man’s home as they were arresting him, the local sheriff’s office said.
Officers were executing a warrant in the home of Kevin Wade O’Neal in Old Fort, about 45 miles (70km) east of Chattanooga, after he had threatened to kill public officials and law enforcement personnel in Polk County.
After arresting the 54-year-old, officers noticed “something smouldering” in the bedroom where he was found.
Kevin Wade O’Neal. Pic: Polk County Sheriff’s Office
On closer inspection, they discovered an improvised explosive device and evacuated the house until bomb squad officers arrived at the scene.
Fourteen devices were found inside the property – none of which detonated.
Improvised explosive devices were found in Kevin Wade O’Neal’s home. Pic: Polk County Sheriff’s Office
Kevin Wade O’Neal’s home in Old Fort, Tennessee. Pic: Polk County Sheriff’s Office
O’Neal was charged with 11 counts of attempted first-degree murder, corresponding to nine officers and two other people inside the property when the suspect tried to detonate the devices.
He also faces 14 counts of prohibited weapons and one count of possession of explosive components.
Read more from Sky News:
World champion sprinter arrested for ‘assaulting boyfriend’
Trump says “nobody has asked” him to pardon Maxwell
O’Neal is being held at the Polk County jail and his bond is yet to be determined.
Donald Trump says he has ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in the “appropriate regions” in a row with former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.
It comes after Mr Medvedev, who is now deputy chair of Russia‘s Security Council, told the US president on Thursday to remember Moscow had Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities of last resort.
On Friday, Mr Trump wrote on social media: “Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.
“Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Trump-Russia live: Follow Ukraine war latest
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Trump: ‘We’re going to protect our people’
Speaking outside the White House later in the day, Mr Trump was asked about why he had moved the submarines and replied: “We had to do that. We just have to be careful.
“A threat was made and we didn’t think it was appropriate, so I have to be very careful. So I do that on the basis of safety for our people. A threat was made by a former president of Russia and we’re going to protect our people.”
The spat between Mr Trump and Mr Medvedev came after the US president warned Russia on Tuesday it had “10 days from today” to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine or face tariffs, along with its oil buyers.
Moscow has shown no sign that it will agree to Mr Trump’s demands.
Read more:
Who are the winners (if any) and losers of Trump’s tariffs?
On Thursday, Mr Medvedev reminded Mr Trump that Russia possessed a Soviet-era automated nuclear retaliatory system – or “dead hand”.
Mr Medvedev, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was referring to a secretive semi-automated Soviet command system designed to launch Russia’s missiles if its leadership was taken out in a decapitating strike.
He made the remarks after Mr Trump told him to “watch his words” after Mr Medvedev said the US president’s threat of hitting Russia and its oil buyers with punitive tariffs was “a game of ultimatums” and added that “each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war” between Russia and the US.
Dmitry Medvedev. Pic: Reuters
Mr Medvedev served as Russia’s president from 2008 and 2012, when Mr Putin was barred from seeking a third consecutive term, but then stepped aside to let him run again.
As deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, he has become known for his provocative and inflammatory statements since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike