President last Monday Joe Biden approved a project that will enable the extraction and drilling of oil and gas in the state of Alaska. The activities in this area will be led by the oil giant I know Philips.

The project will take place within the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve, space owned by the federal government, and about 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle. This site is considered one of the places richest in biodiversity and one of the least explored in the United States.

The Willow Project Initiative was temporarily approved in the administration of Donald TrumpBut was arrested in 2021 by a judge who returned it for re-evaluation by the government.

The purpose of the company ConocoPhillips is to produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil per day. However, the $8 billion initiative drew criticism from environmental groups.

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Environmentalists have argued that the project should be stopped the consequences for the climate and nature in the region. Moreover, this has been taken into account reneges on promises Biden has made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promotion of clean energy.

More than a million letters of protest have been sent to the White House. More than three million people signed a Change.org petition to stop Project Willow.

For now, the Biden administration is only allowing ConocoPhillips to drill for oil in three zones. The company had asked to begin drilling at two other points, but the Executive has delayed its decision on the matter, the report said.

The Willow Project will generate between $8 billion and $17 billion in tax revenue for the federal government, the state of Alaska and local governments in the region, ConocoPhillips says on its website.

The Willow Project will add 239 million tons of carbon emissions to the atmosphere over the next 30 yearsaccording to estimates by the Ministry of the Interior, equivalent to the annual emissions of 64 coal-fired power plants.