Environmental groups sue Biden over oil drilling project in Alaska

​A coalition of environmental ​organizations filed a lawsuit Wednesday to stop ​an Alaska oil drilling project  that ​President Biden signed off on earlier this week​, likening the $8 billion venture to a “carbon bomb.”​

Green groups had criticized Biden for reneging on campaign pledges to boost alternate forms of energy and end drilling on public lands as he considered the Willow Project, which could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day.

“There is no question that the administration possessed the legal authority to stop Willow — yet it chose not to,” Erik Grafe, deputy managing attorney in Earthjustice’s Alaska regional office, said in a statement.

“It greenlit this carbon bomb without adequately assessing its climate impacts or weighing its options to limit the damage and say no. The climate crisis is one of the greatest challenges we face, and President Biden has promised to do all he can to meet the moment,” the statement continued.

Earthjustice sued on behalf of several organizations — including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace USA, Defenders of Wildlife and Friends of the Earth. 

The suit says the project “undermines President Biden’s promises to slash greenhouse-gas emissions in half by 2030 and transition the United States to clean energy.”

The environmental groups argue that the ConocoPhillips drilling project on Alaska’s Northern Slope will add about “260 million metric tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere over the next 30 years.”​

The lawsuit further claimed the Willow Project will “cause ​irreparable harm to the environment, Arctic wildlife and nearby people who depend on the land for subsistence.”

ConocoPhillips has said that along with the 180,000 barrels of oil a day, the project would create more than 1,800 jobs during construction, 300 long-term jobs and generate billions of dollars in royalty payments and tax revenue for Alaska and the federal government. 

Biden’s approval, which came Monday, allows ConocoPhillips to develop three drilling sites on federal land in the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska.

At the same time, the company will have to give up rights to about 68,000 acres (106 square miles) in the reserve.