The Biden administration’s decision to approve a 30-year oil-drilling project has sparked criticism from Democrats—and particularly progressives—from both chambers of Congress.
The Department of the Interior (DOI) approved the Willow Project on Monday, allowing oil giant ConocoPhillips to move forward with a drilling plan within a northeastern section of the 23 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). The company has forecast that the project will produce as much as 180,000 barrels of oil a day at peak, and more than 600 million barrels of oil equivalent over its 30-year lifespan.
Four progressive lawmakers—Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.)—criticized the decision in a joint statement on March 13….