The Biden Administration beat up Alaska and stole its lunch money. Then with Biden’s reluctant approval of just three-fifths of the proposed Willow Project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, gave back just enough change for the state to catch a bus to somewhere.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, in his response to the Biden Administration announcement about Willow stood slightly apart from others in the figurative cheering section over the news about the Interior Department’s Record of Decision.
He said that while the Biden Administration’s approval to drill in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska is welcome news, the president’s plan to proceed to block drilling on over 16 million acres on the North Slope is “disgraceful.”
Last week on Fox News Dunleavy reminded viewers that “Alaska probably has more sanctions put against it by our own government than our government has against Venezuela.”
The Department of Interior on Sunday said it would issue permits for a scaled-down version the Willow Project, but develop a plan to effectively end the oil industry’s future work in Alaska by cordoning off prospective oil plays.
The Willow Project, owned by ConocoPhillips, is expected to generate up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day at its peak production, and bring in $8 billion in revenue for local, state, and federal governments. Some 2,500 jobs would be created during construction, with 300 permanent jobs expected for operation of the field.
“It’s disgraceful that the Biden administration thinks that this is a compromise that will benefit America,” said Dunleavy. “Taking future oil production in Alaska off the map won’t decrease global oil consumption. It will just shift the market and give leverage to producers in countries that don’t have our high standards for the environment and human rights. In the end, every American pays the price when President Biden restricts our ability to develop our own energy resources.”
“Once again the Biden Administration is offering up Alaska as a sacrifice to appease the cult of climate extremism,” said Department of Natural Resources Commissioner-Designee John Boyle. “Forestalling development across 16 million acres to atone for an energy project barely acres is emblematic of an environmental fanaticism that should concern all rational people. We Alaskans are left hoping for a future day when federal policy isn’t served with a pitcher of green Kool-Aid.”
