Democrats to Biden: 'Reject Willow Now and Protect the Arctic'

[NJCher]

Please note: story is from March 4; could not find it previously posted here.

It appears there is significant Democratic opposition to Willow.

snip

It would be a victory for Big Oil and a huge step backwards on climate," warned Rep. Ro Khanna, who co-signed the letter."
JON QUEALLY
Mar 04, 2023

Nearly two dozen Democratic lawmakers from the U.S. Senate and House—as well as independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont—have written to President Joe Biden imploring him to put the last nail in the coffin of an "ill-conceived and misguided" oil and gas drilling project in Alaska that experts say would destroy the president's climate legacy if approved in any form.

Led by Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, and Sen. Ed Markey(D-Mass.), Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety, the letter urges Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to reject final approval of the 30-year ConocoPhillips' Willow Project in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve.

"No version of the Willow [Master Development Plan (MDP)] is consistent with your commitments to combat the climate crisis and promote environmental justice, especially as reflected in the Inflation Reduction Act, historic legislation on which we all collaborated to achieve these crucial goals," the letter states.

"If allowed to proceed," the lawmakers argue, the Willow project "would pose a significant threat to U.S. progress on climate issues," citing estimates that the project could unleash upwards of $19.8 billion in climate-related damages.

snip

https://www.commondreams.org/news/biden-reject-willow-project

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please note: if you wish to sign the petition against Willow, see this link:

https://www.protectthearctic.org/stop-willow

[Turbineguy]

1. Actually.....

It might be a better choice if it is a more efficient of getting oil to the market than say, tar sands or other methods.

[orthoclad]

2. Feels like bait-and-switch

Today's WaPo says he's going to protect the Arctic Ocean and approve Willow. This seems worthless for several reasons:
- Oil companies don't even want the Arctic Ocean now, per WaPo
- the next R in office can just scuttle that plan without even thinking, just a stroke of the Sharpie. It would have to be in the form of legislation to have any teeth.

Feels like empty promises, especially combined with the plan to "streamline" (nice code word) fossil project approvals -- in conjunction with Manchin.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/12/willow-alaska-biden-climate-change/

Petition signed

[Rhiannon12866]

3. K&R! Done! Thanks so much for posting!

[Duppers]

4. TY for posting this!