Greens Weep 4 Approved Willow Oil Project

Sanity in eco-wars still possible as US approves Willow Oil Project in Alaskan Arctic? Or, having been caught with its pants down by admitting there was little environmental danger in it, did Mean Green Biden have a choice? Wait. 24 hours later, Shoeless Joe REVERSES his reversal? Only in a Biden White House ...

As the WSJ notes, after years of battling environmentalists, ConocoPhillips expected the $7 billion drilling project in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve to produce about 180,000 barrels of oil a day while building more than 430 miles of ice roads & other infrastructure. It thereby was to give some solace to those wanting a truce in the Administration’s “War on Fossil Fuels” so the nation’s breakneck “transition” to alt energy won’t bankrupt consumers at the gas pump. But, as CNN warned, many environmentalists and Democrats still wailed after fighting so long to have the “carbon bomb” project scuttled, never mind the Interior Dept’s low key assessments that gave it a clean green bill of health, eventually supporting it in court. And, just a day later, we have Fox News reporting, "Biden admin buckles to environmental groups, makes sudden reversal on key land decision" aka THIS ONE. Why? Supposedly because of a cheap gravel, one-lane access road to ostensibly give currently isolated Indigenous folks help in emergencies has become to Interior Sec & "life long evironmentalist" a potential eco-nightmare as the environmentalists insisted all along.

Opposite reactions of warring parties after the short-lived license approval said it all: “After years of relentless advocacy, we are now on the cusp of creating thousands of new jobs, generating billions of dollars in new revenues, improving quality of life on the North Slope and across our state,” crowed Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski. But, Earthjustice, which had sued the gov’t over its support of the project (which happens to be roughly the size of Indiana) was not alone in feeling “betrayed”: “We are too late in the climate crisis to approve massive oil & gas projects that directly undermine the new clean economy [Biden] committed to advancing,” whined its attorney, Jeremy Lieb. Any wonder the administration on Sunday “took steps to quell criticism, announcing a plan to block future oil & gas leasing in the Arctic Ocean’s federal waters”? Then, Tuesday's second betrayal came just hours later ... [Ed note: This is UPDATED as events unfold.]

Davd Soul