![]() ![]() Ultimately, the administration made the internal calculation that it did not want to fight ConocoPhillips, the company behind the Willow project.ĬonocoPhillips has held leases to the prospective drilling site for more than two decades, and administration attorneys argued that refusing a permit would trigger a lawsuit that could cost the government as much as $5 billion, according to administration officials who asked not to be identified in order to discuss legal strategy. Biden has approved freely, without a court order or a congressional mandate.Īnd it comes as the International Energy Agency has said that governments must stop approving new oil, gas and coal projects if the planet is to avert the most catastrophic impacts of climate change. Willow would be one of the few oil projects that Mr. Biden to sign off on some limited oil and gas leases. Until this point, the courts and Congress have forced Mr. ![]() Approval of the Willow project marks a turning point in the administration’s approach to fossil fuel development.
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