But some are opposed, concerned about effects on health, the climate and caribou. Many Alaska Natives say they support the Willow project because it will bring jobs and money to their communities. from meeting Biden's goal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. White House officials said the project won't prevent the U.S. Using the oil Willow would produce over 30 years would emit roughly as much greenhouse gases as the combined emissions from 1.7 million passenger cars over the same time period. They say it is out of step with Biden's goals to cut carbon emissions and move to clean energy. They say the Interior secretary must act to protect and conserve wildlife and other resources in the reserve when oil and gas activities occur.Įnvironmental groups see the approval of the Willow project as a betrayal of President Joe Biden's 2020 campaign promises to end new oil and gas drilling on federal lands. Dan Sullivan has repeatedly argued it should be expected that oil and gas is developed in the reserve, emphasizing the name - petroleum reserve.īut environmentalists say the vast region is home to an array of wildlife, such as polar bears and brown bears, muskox, caribou and millions of migratory birds.

The Biden administration last year limited oil and gas leasing to just over half of the federal lands in the nearly 23-million-acre reserve.Īlaska Republican U.S. Interior Department since the 1970s, and there has been debate over where development should occur. It is in something called the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, which was originally set aside a century ago as an emergency oil supply for the U.S. Willow is on Alaska's remote North Slope, about 600 miles (966 kilometers) north of Anchorage. Willow also is currently the largest proposed oil project on federal lands.

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