"Willow Oil Project in Alaska Faces Legal Challenges, Economic Doubts", 19 Mar 2023

Fears of a lawsuit galvanized the Biden administration’s approval of ConocoPhillips’ US$8-billion drilling project on the pristine northern reaches of Alaska’s North Slope, the New York Times reported... “ConocoPhillips has held leases to the prospective drilling site for more than two decades, and administration attorneys argued that refusing a permit would trigger a lawsuit that could cost the government as much as $5 billion.”

In dodging ConocoPhillips’ legal team, however, the Biden administration now finds itself the defendant in two separate lawsuits challenging the Willow project.

Two environmental law firms, Trustees for Alaska and Earthjustice, have filed suits against the Department of Interior and its top officials, the Bureau of Land Management, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, among other federal agencies.

Trustees for Alaska is representing the Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, the Alaska Wilderness League, the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, Environment America, the Wilderness Society, and the U.S. Sierra Club. Earthjustice is acting on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace U.S.,and the Natural Resources Defense Council...

“The complaints tie the project’s potential climate effects to the threatened species, including polar bears, that reside in the region where the Willow Project would be constructed,” reported CNN. Both lawsuits charge that Willow violates several federal laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA)...

Both groups are asking a judge for a preliminary injunction to halt the project...

Winning an injunction could mean delaying construction for another year...

ConocoPhillips stands to gain the most once the project becomes cash flow positive in FY 2031, with projections of “$10.3 billion of net cash flow through 2043 and $12.8 billion through 2053..."

Communities most affected by the development also stand to receive some $3.7 billion through 2053 via an “Impacted Communities Revenue” sharing agreement with the state...