The Biden Administration approved ConocoPhillips' Willow oil-drilling project in the Alaskan Arctic.
The $7B project in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve was opposed by environmentalists and many Democrats who wanted the project scrapped. The project, at its peak, is expected to produce 180,000 barrels of oil per day.
The Interior Department said it would allow drilling on three of the five drill sites proposed by ConocoPhillips.
- The oil company announced the Willow discovery in 2017.
- Opposition to the project resulted in years of litigation and thousands of pages of environmental analysis by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management.
- Many worried that the project, if allowed to proceed, would hinder President Biden's campaign goals to phase out fossil fuels.
- Proponents of the project argued Willow would generate jobs and revenue for Alaska.
