The proposed Willow project is within the reserve, and ConocoPhillips has long held leases for the site. Separately, the administration moved to protect more than 13 million acres within the petroleum reserve, a 23-million acre chunk of land on Alaska’s North Slope set aside a century ago for future oil production. The action completes protections for the entire Beaufort Sea Planning Area, building upon President Barack Obama’s 2016 withdrawal of the Chukchi Sea Planning Area and the majority of the Beaufort Sea, the White House said. The withdrawal of the offshore area ensures that important habitat for whales, seals, polar bears and other wildlife "will be protected in perpetuity from extractive development,'' the White House said in a statement. Under the conservation plan announced Sunday, Biden will bar drilling in nearly 3 million acres of the Arctic Ocean, and impose new protections in the petroleum reserve. The White House said no final decision on Willow has been reached. Haaland, who fought the Willow project as a member of Congress, has the final decision on whether to approve it, although top White House climate officials are likely to be involved, with input from Biden himself. “Cooperation goes both ways,″ she told reporters. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, called Willow “one of the biggest, most important resource development projects in our state’s history.” Meanwhile, Alaska lawmakers, unions and indigenous communities have pressured Biden to approve the project, saying it would bring much-needed jobs and billions of dollars in taxes and mitigation funds to the vast, snow- and ice-covered region nearly 600 miles (965 kilometers) from Anchorage. Climate activists have rallied against project, calling it a “carbon bomb” that would be a betrayal of Biden's campaign pledges to curb new oil and gas drilling. The moves come as regulators prepare to announce a final decision on t he $8 billion Willow project, a controversial oil drilling plan pushed by ConocoPhillips in the petroleum reserve. Plans announced Sunday night will bar drilling in nearly 3 million acres of the Beaufort Sea - closing it off from oil exploration - and limit drilling in more than 13 million acres in a vast swath of land known as the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska. (AP) - As President Joe Biden prepares a final decision on the huge Willow oil project in Alaska, his administration announced he will prevent or limit oil drilling in 16 million acres in Alaska and the Arctic Ocean.
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