Destructive Alaska Oil Expansion Has No Place in Energy Future

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Biden administration is expected to take a step toward a massive expansion of oil drilling on Alaska’s Western slope, according to media reports, with the imminent release of a final environmental impact statement on ConocoPhillips’ destructive Willow project.

Manish Bapna, president and CEO of NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), made the following statement:

“The administration’s own findings make clear this project is a carbon bomb. It has no place in our energy future. It should be denied.

“We can’t keep drilling to the ends of the Earth while a runaway climate crisis ravages our world. We can’t keep rubber-stamping projects that lock our children into decades more dependence on destructive fuels. We can’t keep dismissing sound science.     

“The administration needs to draw a line in the tundra, hold the line on carbon pollution, and speed the shift to cleaner, smarter ways to power our future.”

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.