House, Senate Democrats ask court to halt Willow project

The fossil fuel project undermines a

January 09, 2024

More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers are backing conservation groups' calls for a federal appeals court to halt construction of a massive fossil fuel project in Alaska approved by the Biden administration almost a year ago.

In a friend of the court brief, members of both chambers of Congress said the Interior Department should not have authorized ConocoPhillips' Willow project in a pristine area of Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve.

"Due to national security and environmental considerations, modern-day United States policy embodies a pressing need to reduce national reliance on non-renewable energy sources — policy that is undermined by the Willow Project," said the coalition, which included 16 Democratic lawmakers, and Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats.

The lawmakers' filing last Friday in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals supports the Center for Biological Diversity's lawsuit challenging a lower bench ruling approving a pared down version of the $8 billion project.

Judge Sharon Gleason of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska had rejected claims that Interior had violated the National Environmental Policy Act and not properly balanced the government's conservation obligations against the economic interests in drilling.

The Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic is also leading a parallel appeal in the 9th Circuit opposing the district court ruling.

The lawmakers said the district court gave "disproportionate weight" to part of a law requiring development in the reserve, while federal agencies violated requirements under both NEPA and the Endangered Species Act to consider greenhouse emissions associated with the project.

The lawmakers warned the project would "lock in" extraction within the 23-million-acre reserve for 30 years even as the Biden administration has committed to slashing nationwide emissions.

Signatories include House Natural Resources ranking member Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, Rep. Jared Huffman of California, Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

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By:  Niina Farah
Source: E&E Daily