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.
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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.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has been linked to a second group chat about sensitive military operations, which he reportedly shared with his wife, brother and personal lawyer.
The messages sent via the Signal messaging app are again understood to have contained details of an attack on Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis in March.
The second chat group, initially reported by The New York Times, included about a dozen people. It revealed details of the schedule of the airstrikes, according to the Reuters news agency.
Two sources with knowledge of the matter told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News there were 13 people in the second chat group, and Mr Hegseth divulged the information despite an aide warning him about using an unsecure communications system.
Mr Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, has attended sensitive meetings with foreign military counterparts, while his brother was hired at the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior adviser.
Military details from the first chat group were revealed by a journalist from The Atlantic magazine who was accidentally added to the Signal app by national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Mr Hegseth then shared sensitive information with cabinet officials about last month’s airstrike on targets in Yemen, which was later leaked.
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Mike Waltz (left) and Pete Hegseth (right) have used Signal to discuss sensitive government matters. Pic: AP
‘A non-story,’ says White House
But the White House has consistently defended Mr Hegseth.
Donald Trump dismissed the original leak as “something that can happen”.
Responding to the latest chat group, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said: “No matter how many times the legacy media tries to resurrect the same non-story, they can’t change the fact that no classified information was shared.
“Recently-fired ‘leakers’ are continuing to misrepresent the truth to soothe their shattered egos and undermine the President’s agenda, but the administration will continue to hold them accountable.”
The “leakers” referred to in the White House statement are four senior officials who were ousted from the Pentagon last week as part of an internal leak investigation.
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Leaked war plans: ‘Fairly serious’
‘Hegseth put lives at risk’
The New York Times reported that the second chat – named “Defence | Team Huddle” – was created on Mr Hegseth’s private phone.
It detailed the same warplane launch times as the first chat.
Several former and current officials have said sharing those operational details before a strike would have certainly been classified, and their release could have put pilots in danger.
Democratic politicians have repeatedly called for Mr Hegseth to step down.
“We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk,” Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a post on X.
“But [Donald] Trump is still too weak to fire him. Pete Hegseth must be fired.”
The latest claims about Mr Hegseth emerged as Yemen’s Houthi rebels reported another wave of US airstrikes on Sunday, including on the capital Sanaa.
The Houthis said at least 12 people had been killed, with 30 more injured.
The US says its bombing campaign is in response to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes.
DHL Express is suspending some shipments to the US as Donald Trump’s new tariff regime takes effect.
From 21 April, shipments worth more than $800 (£603) to US consumers from “any origin” will be temporarily suspended.
New rules that came into effect at the start of April made such shipments subject to increased customs checks.
“This change has caused a surge in formal customs clearances, which we are handling around the clock,” said the parcel delivery service.
Shipments going from business to business worth more than $800 aren’t affected by the suspension, but DHL warned they may also face delays.
Shipments under $800 to either businesses or consumers are not impacted, but one British cycle manufacturer suggested its US customers may need to split orders over $800 into “smaller shipments” to avoid the red tape.
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From May, shipments from China and Hong Kong that are worth less than $800 “will be subject to all applicable duties”, according to the White House.
“President Trump is targeting deceptive shipping practices by Chinese-based shippers, many of whom hide illicit substances, including synthetic opioids, in low-value packages,” it said in a statement.
Until now, deliveries worth less than $800 didn’t incur any duties, which allowed low-cost companies Chinese like Shein and Temu to make inroads in the US.
Both have warned their prices will now rise because of the rule changes, starting on 25 April.
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