Oil Drilling On Millions Of Acres Of Land And Water Is Blocked Indefinitely By Biden

In an announcement made on Sunday evening, the Biden administration announced that it will indefinitely block oil and gas drilling on 16 million acres of federal land and water in Alaska.

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The Department of Interior (DOI) announced this week that it had initiated a rulemaking process to ensure that the "maximum protection" is afforded to 13 million acres of land within the National Petroleum Reserve (NPR), an area located within North Slope Borough, Alaska, which has been set aside by Congress for resource development. A further 2.8 million acres of land were withdrawn from leasing for oil and gas in the Beaufort Sea, in the Arctic Ocean off the northern coast of Alaska, as a result of President Biden's order.

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"With these actions, President Biden is continuing to deliver on the most aggressive climate agenda in American history," the Department of the Interior said in a statement. "He has made the United States one of the world's leading hubs for clean energy manufacturing and job creation. It is because of him that record investments have been made in climate resilience and environmental justice."

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“Moreover, his economic agenda has put the United States back on track to reach its climate goals by 2030 and 2050, while reducing America's dependence on oil and protecting American families from the impact of Putin's war on the global energy markets,” the statement added.

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Climate Activists, Democrats Overhold Biden Over Alaskan Oil Drilling Project: 'an Existential Threat'

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Due to the announcement, the entire section of the Arctic Ocean owned by the federal government will not be able to produce fossil fuels in the near future as a result of this ban. However, there haven't been any offshore lease sales held in the region since 2007 and the administration has already ruled out holding future auctions until at least 2028 at the earliest.

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Furthermore, the DOI stated that Biden intends to limit future fossil fuel production in the Teshekpuk Lake, Utukok Uplands, Colville River, Kasegaluk Lagoon, and Peard Bay "special areas" known for the abundance of wildlife in the area. Biden's sweeping actions have also prevented the development of certain fossil fuel pipeline infrastructure in the northern Alaska region as a result of his sweeping actions.

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“To me, it's a totally political decision, it's not based on science, it's not based on climate change, it's not based on biological resources,” a former senior official from the Bureau of Land Management said in an interview with Trade Algo on Sunday evening. The former official described it as a totally political decision.

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“Politicians aren't paying attention to science; they're pandering to political interests.”

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Biden appears to go off script by saying the United States needs oil and gas drilling

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It appears that the DOI's announcement is part of an effort on the part of the administration to soften the blow and to assure climate activists that a decision will be made soon about a massive 30-year oil drilling project in the National Petroleum Reserve.

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Trade Algo has obtained information indicating that the Biden administration is expecting to announce Monday that it has approved three of the five drilling sites for the Willow Project, which was originally proposed years ago by ConocoPhillips, one of the world's biggest oil companies.

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Trade Algo has been informed that the Biden administration is expected to announce Monday that three of the five drilling sites for the Willow Project have been approved, an oil project that was proposed to the government a number of years ago by the energy company ConocoPhillips.

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It has been estimated by ConocoPhillips that Willow will produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil each day, create 2,500 construction jobs and 300 long-term jobs, as well as generate as much as $17 billion in revenue for the federal government, Alaska, and local communities, many of which are Indigenous. As a result, it could have a total output of 600 million barrels of oil over the course of its three-decade lifecycle.

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It is important to note that while Biden and senior White House officials have actively participated in overseeing the approval process of the project, the DOI will publish the final decision.

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“There is no way we can allow the Willow Project to move forward. Rather than returning to the dark, fossil-fueled past, we must build a clean energy future - not revert to it," wrote Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, in a tweet. “Regardless of which way the oil flows, it is in the wrong direction no matter which way it flows."

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Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, said the administration's approval of the project was a betrayal.

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With the support of the Alaskan legislature, Republican Governor, Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, Lisa Murkowski, and Democratic Representative Mary Peltola, the entire state legislature and Republican Senator Dan Sullivan have all endorsed Willow. Alaskan communities, labor unions, leaders of the North Slope Borough, as well as the Alaska Federation of Natives, have expressed their support for Mike Dunleavy.