US President Biden has withdrawn the drilling rights for the controversial Willow project for the time being. He also emphasizes the need to strike a balance between climate protection and the promotion of energy security.
US President Joe Biden is taking action against oil production in large parts of Alaska. The US government has now revoked drilling rights in a nature reserve in the north of the state that were granted in early 2021.
The Interior Ministry also proposed new rules banning oil and gas drilling in parts of the resource-rich National Petroleum Reservoir. In the climate crisis, the Arctic is heating up more than twice as fast as the rest of the world and must be protected, Biden argued on Wednesday evening.
In March, the US government approved a controversial oil drilling project, energy company Conoco Phillips’ Willow project, in Alaska. In the coming decades, around 600 million barrels of oil are to be produced on state territory in the national oil reservoir. Environmental groups warned of damage to the environment and climate.
Biden’s government pointed out that the environmental reports for the planned drilling projects in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge in the time of his predecessor Donald Trump were inadequate. The White House is attempting to strike a balance between environmental and climate policies and energy security plans with domestic funding.
Source: Stern
