Republicans send stern message to Biden about oil proposal

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2 years ago

February 15, 2023

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close video Alaska gov. on federal drilling: All we’re asking for is the go-ahead

Alaska gov. Mike Dunleavy discusses Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia and the impact of the administration’s policies on drilling projects.

Several Republican lawmakers in Alaska along with Alaska Native leaders urged the Biden administration Tuesday to allow a major oil project on the petroleum-rich North Slope to continue unfettered.

The Biden administration "damn well better not kill the project, period," Sen. Lisa Murkowski told a group of reporters on Tuesday, urging the federal government to approve the project which has been described as economically critical for Indigenous communities and important for the nation's energy security.

The lawmaker’s comments come after the U.S. Bureau of Land Management conducted an environmental review earlier this month of an initial proposal of ConocoPhillips Alaska's Willow project, ultimately reducing the number of proposed drill sites.

The preferred alternative that was offered reduced the five drill sites favored by the company to just three suggested by the government. The alternative has its proponents, including Alaska's bipartisan congressional delegation.

ALASKA READY TO INCREASE OIL, GAS PRODUCTION IF BIDEN ADMIN ALLOWS: GOV. DUNLEAVY

Trans Alaska oil pipeline, Alaska, United States. (MyLoupe/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)

However, Murkowski and Sen. Dan Sullivan said any further limits of the project could kill it.

The Bureau of Land Management has clarified that the proposed alternative "does not constitute a commitment or decision" by the Biden administration to approve of the project.

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Separately, the U.S. Interior Department has said it has "substantial concerns" about the project and the report’s preferred alternative, "including direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions and impacts to wildlife and Alaska Native subsistence."

The Bureau of Land Management operates under the Interior Department.

Aerial view of Nuiqsut, AK on May 28, 2019. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Sullivan has said the Willow project could be "one of the biggest, most important resource development projects in our state’s history." He also urged state lawmakers in Alaska’s capital last week to pass a resolution expressing support for the project.

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Environmentalists and community leaders in Nuiqsut, about 36 miles from the proposed Willow project, have expressed concerns the potential development would be inconsistent with President Joe Biden's climate goals.

City of Nuiqsut Mayor Rosemary Ahtuangaruak said there are "many who would like to say everybody in Alaska supports oil and gas development. Well, for our village, this development is in the wrong area."

"Our concerns are real. It’s about our way of life, the life, health and safety of our village," she added.

Oil pipelines stretch across the landscape outside Nuiqsut, AK, where ConocoPhillips operates the Alpine Field on May 28, 2019. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)

But, in a speech on the U.S. Senate floor last week, Sullivan said the project has more support than what may appear in the media.

Taqulik Hepa, director of the Department of Wildlife Management for the North Slope Borough, said taxes levied on oil and gas infrastructure enabled her community to invest in public infrastructure, support local schools and provide police, fire, and other services.

Residents are "keenly aware of the need to balance responsible oil development and the subsistence lifestyle that has sustained us," Hepa said.

Nagruk Harcharek, president of the group Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, said there is "majority consensus" in the region in favor of the project and added the project is a "lifeline" for residents.

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He also said there are limited economic development opportunities in the region, which makes approval of the Willow project important.

During Biden’s State of the Union address, he admitted the U.S. would need oil "for at least another decade.″

Murkowski challenged this timeline, saying the U.S. would eventually transition toward a "different energy future" but said Biden needs to "recheck his facts, respectfully."

"We are decades, decades away from a time that we would be beyond oil resources," she said. "The need is very, very much still there."

U.S. President Joe Biden has suggested the country will move on from oil as a primary energy source. (Alex Wong/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. (Anna Rose Layden/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The proposed Willow project is in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. ConocoPhillips Alaska has said it could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day at its peak.

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The project is expected to create up to 2,500 jobs during construction and an estimated 300 permanent jobs, along with generating billions of dollars in revenues for federal, state and local governments, the company announced.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Science

NASA’s RASSOR Robot Digs Deep into Moon Mining Future with Successful Test

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1 hour ago

June 7, 2025

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NASA’s RASSOR Robot Digs Deep into Moon Mining Future with Successful Test

NASA’s RASSOR (Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot) was recently tested on simulated lunar soil at Kennedy Space Center’s Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations LabThe excavator is built to dig and haul Moon-like regolith, preparing technology for sustained lunar missions. On May 27, NASA mechanical engineer Ben Burdess observed RASSOR’s counterrotating bucket drums churn through the soil simulant and carve a three-foot berm. This trial focuses on RASSOR’s digging drums and directly informs development of NASA’s next-generation Moon-mining excavator, the In-Situ Resource Utilization Pilot Excavator (IPEx)

RASSOR’s Counterrotating Drums and Regolith Excavation

According to NASA’s official website, each of RASSOR’s arms carries a bucket drum that spins in the opposite direction of its mate. Engineers note that this opposing rotation gives RASSOR extra traction even in weak gravity. In the Kennedy lab test, those counterrotating drums anchored the robot into the simulant and effectively dug soil – proof that RASSOR can grip and move regolith reliably on the Moon. With that traction, RASSOR can dig, load, haul and dump loose soil.

The collected regolith can then be processed into hydrogen, oxygen and water, resources critical to sustaining astronauts on the Moon. In short, the test showed RASSOR effectively excavating lunar soil simulant while its drum design demonstrated how future machines can operate in the Moon’s low gravity.

Toward the Moon with IPEx Excavator

NASA engineers say this RASSOR test was primarily to check the bucket-drum design slated for the In-Situ Resource Utilization Pilot Excavator (IPEx). RASSOR serves as a prototype for IPEx, which will be far more autonomous and capable.

IPEx is engineered as a combined bulldozer and dump-truck robot that can mine and transport large volumes of lunar soil. Ultimately, IPEx will dig up regolith and feed it into on-site processing units to extract oxygen, water and fuel from the Moon’s soil. Using these local resources is a cornerstone of NASA’s strategy for supporting a sustained human presence on the Moon and eventually Mars.

Science

Europa May Host Life When Sun Becomes Red Giant, Say Cornell Researchers

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2 hours ago

June 7, 2025

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Europa May Host Life When Sun Becomes Red Giant, Say Cornell Researchers

Life in the solar system may not entirely end when the sun begins its dramatic transformation into a red giant star. Instead, a brief window of potential habitability may open on Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon, according to new research. Scientists now suggest that as the sun expands and its habitable zone shifts outward, Europa could temporarily offer conditions suitable for life, though the opportunity would last only a few hundred million years, fleeting on cosmic timescales, but not insignificant.

Europa May Host Microbial Life for 200 Million Years After Sun Becomes a Red Giant

As per a new study from the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University, soon to be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the red giant sun’s energy output could reach as far as Jupiter’s orbit. While Jupiter itself will remain inhospitable, its moon Europa may receive enough combined heat from both solar radiation and Jupiter’s increased reflection to melt parts of its icy crust. This warming could expose or even evaporate subsurface oceans long believed to exist beneath its frozen shell.

Researchers estimate that Europa’s surface will sublimate significantly on the side facing Jupiter, while equatorial regions will suffer water loss due to convective heat transport. Yet, the northern and southern regions on the side opposite Jupiter might retain more water, creating a modest water-vapour atmosphere. Scientists note that this could preserve the conditions needed to sustain life for as long as 200 million years.

The briefer span of Earth history might have been long enough for microscopic life to flourish or endure, in particular if life thrives somewhere below Europa’s ice. This finding could open new paths for astrobiological investigation, including future telescopes with the capability of fishing for biosignatures on ice-covered moons that orbit red giant stars.

Findings such as the exomoon discovery could open a new chapter in that search, with the possibility that after humans die out or destroy themselves, Europa might be all that remains of life in the solar system.