Alaska governor expects Biden to reject controversial Willow oil and gas project
As Alaska labor and political leaders plead with President Biden to approve America's largest pending oil and gas project in his final moments, the governor said he expects the White House to turn it down.
Mike Dunleavy said on the Cavuto Coast to Coast Tuesday. It's sad to say that, but their idea of a compromise is to allow two drilling pads for this oil play called Willow, about 180,000 barrels per day at peak, instead of three or more that the investors, ConocoPhillips, need to make this thing work for everyone. The Willow project is the largest pending oil and gas plan in the U.S. and is a proposal by ConocoPhillips to develop energy resources in a small portion of what is known as the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska on Alaska s North Slope.
Alaska's AFI-CIO labor union president pointed out on Fox Friends First that decades of oil are available in Alaska, noting that Willow creates approximately 2,500 construction jobs. Estimates show that between $8 to $17 billion of potential federal revenue could be generated.
It's an unfortunate game that's being played between the White House, the extremists and environmentalists that got him there and the people of Alaska in this country, Dunleavy said. We're preparing, hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. Alaska currently pumps about 500,000 barrels of oil per day, according to the governor. He expressed fears that the likely disapproval of Willow will set the precedent for future drilling opportunities.
Dunleavy said that you want more production to drive the prices down for Americans and Alaskans. We're supposed to hear a word of the decision here this week or early next week, hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. Environmental groups oppose a scaled-down version of the project. The Sierra Club said last month in a press release that the Willow project would have a devastating effect on public lands and our climate and approving it after passing the largest climate bill in history would be a giant step in reverse. AFI-CIO President Joelle Hall argued earlier that it is possible for Biden to approve this project while also building a sustainable climate future. America has to do two things at once: we have to be able to continue to develop natural oil and gas reserves here in Alaska, and we have to be able to build a climate future that's free of these types of carbons, Hall said. We have to do two things at once, it's pretty simple. Dunleavy predicted that when Biden shuts down the Willow project, his administration will go to adversaries like Venezuela for more oil supply when, as the governor stressed, the answer lies within American borders.
Alaska probably has more sanctions against it by our own government than our government has against Venezuela, the governor said. This is not the end of oil, it's just the end of oil in America.