ASSOCIATED PRESS • March 14, 2023
ConocoPhillips’ Willow project would produce 180,000 barrels of oil a day at its peak, and using that crude would result in at least 263 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions over 30 years. Demand for oil isn’t dropping as the planet heats, and a bitter political dispute over the project, which was approved Monday, has underscored the Democratic administration’s struggle to balance economic pressures against pledges to curb fossil fuels. The proposal in the remote region north of the Arctic Circle also highlights the paradox facing the U.S. and other nations: The world’s transition to clean energy lags behind the reality of an economy still largely driven by oil consumption. Attorneys representing environmentalists and an Alaska Native group filed a lawsuit Tuesday asking a federal judge to the project.