US President Joe Biden supports the controversial Willow Alaska oil drilling project, saying it goes against the Democratic president's promises.

The Biden administration said Monday it approved Willow's massive oil drilling project on Alaska's oil-rich north slope. The announcement came a day after the government, which was taking a different tack toward conservation, said it would block or restrict drilling in some other areas of Alaska and the Arctic Ocean. 

 

  Willow  Bureau of Land Management approval would allow for three drill sites totaling up to 199 drill holes. Two other drill sites proposed for the project were reportedly rejected.Project developer ConocoPhillips  said it believes the three-site option is viable, "the right move for Alaska and our nation," said Ryan, the company's president and chief executive officer. 

 

 

 Houston-based ConocoPhillips will relinquish approximately 68,000 acres of existing leases in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve. The order, one of the most important during Home Secretary Deb Haaland's tenure, was signed not  by her but  by her deputy, Tommy Beaudreau, who grew up in Alaska and has strong ties to state legislatures. She's been particularly quiet about the project, which she  opposed as a congressman in New Mexico  before becoming  secretary of the interior two years ago. 

 

 Climate activists were outraged that Biden had greenlit a project they said threatened his climate legacy.They say that continuing the drill plan would also go against a promise by the Biden campaign to halt new  drilling on public lands. However, administration officials feared that ConocoPhillips' multi-year leases would limit the government's legal ability to block the project and that the courts would rule in the company's favour. Monday's 

 

 

  announcement  likely won't be the last word as a legal battle with  environmental groups is expected. The Willow project could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil per day, create up to 2,500 construction jobs  and 300 long-term jobs, and generate billions of dollars in royalties and tax revenues for  federal, state and local governments, the company said. 

 

 The project, located in Alaska's state-designated National Petroleum Reserve, has broad political support in the state.Lawmakers in Alaska's home state  recently met with Secretary of the Interior  Deb Haaland to ask for support for Willow.  Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said Monday the decision was "excellent news for the country." 

 

 "This means not only  jobs and income for Alaska, but also much-needed resources  for the country and  our friends and allies," Murkowski said. “The government has listened to Alaska's voices.They exchanged a delegation as we pushed for energy security and national security."

Another Republican senator, Dan Sullivan, said the terms of the project should not limit Willow's ability to produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil per day. However, he said it was "annoying" that Biden had also taken action to prevent or limit oil drilling elsewhere in Alaska. 

 

 environmental activists who  promoted the #StopWillow campaign on social media were furious at the support, which they described as a betrayal. "We are too late in the climate crisis to authorize massive oil and gas projects that directly undermine the new clean economy that the Biden administration is committed to building," said Abigail Dillen, President of Earthjustice."We know President Biden understands the existential climate threat, but he supports a plan that is at odds with his  climate goals." 

 

 Christy Goldfuss, a former Obama White House official who is now the chief policy officer at  Natural Resources Defense Council is said to be "deeply disappointed" by Biden's decision to support Willow, which NRDC estimates will produce equivalent greenhouse gas warming emissions for more than a million homes. 

 

 "This decision is bad for the climate,  the environment, and  the Alaska Native community who oppose it and feel their voices are not being heard," Goldfuss said.  Anticipating a similar backlash from environmental groups, the White House announced  Sunday that Biden would prevent or limit oil drilling on 16 million acres in Alaska and the Arctic Ocean. The plan would ban drilling on nearly 3 million acres of the Beaufort Sea, cutting it off from oil exploration  and restricting drilling on more than 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve.The removal of the coastal zone ensures that important habitats for whales, seals, polar bears and other wildlife "will be protected forever from mining development," the White House said in a statement. 

 

 The maintenance announcement did not help the militants. 

 

 "This is a performative action to keep Project Willow from looking so bad," said Elise Joshi,  acting executive director of Gen-Z for Change, an advocacy group. Alaska's bipartisan congressional delegation met with Biden and his advisers in early March to support the plan, while environmental groups have rallied against dissent and urged  opponents of the plan to lobby the government. 

 

  Nuiqsut Mayor Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, whose community of about 525 people is closest to the proposed development, has spoken out openly against the plan because of concerns about the impact of the caribou and the way of life of its residents.The Naqsragmiut Tribal Council of another North Slope community has also expressed concern about the project.  But there is a "majority consensus" in the North Slope region in support of the project, said Nagruk Harcharek, president of the  Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat group, whose membership includes leaders from most parts of the region.