Energy & Environment — Interior moves toward approving Alaska oil project

by Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk - 02/01/23 6:39 PM ET

This Sunday, June 30, 2019, aerial photo released by Earthjustice shows the Alaska’s North Slope in the Western Arctic on the edge of Teshekpuk Lake, Alaska. The Biden administration issued a long-awaited study on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, that recommends allowing a major oil development on Alaska’s North Slope, and the move — while not final — drew immediate anger from environmentalists who saw it as a betrayal of the president’s pledges to reduce carbon emissions and promote clean energy sources. (Kiliii Yuyan for Earthjustice via AP)

The Biden administration takes the next step toward approving an Alaska oil project opposed by environmentalists. Meanwhile, California has its own proposal on use of the Colorado River, and the Senate introduces a bipartisan bill to restrict SPR sales to China.

This is Energy & Environment, your source for the latest news focused on energy, the environment and beyond. For The Hill, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk.

Alaska drilling project nearing approval

The Biden administration took a step toward approving a controversial project that would lock in oil and gas drilling in Alaska over a 30-year period.

The administration indicated it is likely to approve the Willow Project, a major ConocoPhillips endeavor that would produce up to 629 million total barrels of oil.

What would the impact be? The environmental impacts review released by the Interior Department on Wednesday said the project could result in 278,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide over the project’s 30-year lifespan. That’s the equivalent of driving 59,900 cars for a year.

A prior draft review laid out a range of options for the project, but this step signals the department is proposing to approve the project. Final approval could be as soon as 30 days after this penultimate step.

Under the final environmental review, the Bureau of Land Management selected an alternative that would include three oil well pads where drilling would occur. The department said the option it ultimately selected intends to “reduce the amount of surface infrastructure” for the project and lessen impacts on caribou and other wildlife.

In a statement, the Interior Department said publication of the document and selected alternative “is not a decision about whether to approve the Willow Project.” It suggested its final decision could ultimately reject the project or defer some drill sites.
“The Department has substantial concerns about the Willow project and the preferred alternative as presented in the final [supplemental environmental impact statement], including direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions and impacts to wildlife and Alaska Native subsistence,” the department said.

Green groups aren’t happy. Read more on the backlash here.

Calif. submits separate Colorado River usage plan

California’s water agencies have issued an alternate proposal for dividing usage of the Colorado River, two days after the other six states in the basin issued a joint proposal of their own.

The proposal, announced late Tuesday night, is based in part on existing agency commitments announced in 2022 that state officials say would preserve 400,000 more acre-feet of water per year.

It is distinct from the submission by the other six states, which would rely on California for the majority of the necessary water reductions in the river’s lower basin. This proposal, the California agencies wrote, directly contradicts the Law of the River that currently governs apportionment.

“The alternative provides a realistic and implementable framework to address reduced inflows and declining reservoir elevations by building on voluntary agreements and past collaborative efforts in order to minimize implementation delays,” state Colorado River Commissioner J.B. Hamby said in a statement.
“California’s alternative protects critical elevations and uses adaptive management to protect critical reservoir elevations through the interim period.”

How we got here: Earlier this week, the other six states in the river basin — Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — submitted their own proposed alternative, which would update 2007 guidelines for the Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell and the Hoover Dam at Lake Mead. Neither the six states’ proposal nor the California submission constitute a binding agreement.

Representatives of the six states have been negotiating for months over usage of the river, which is severely overallocated due to a century-old usage agreement that has not been updated as water demand evolved. The states had agreed to a rough Jan. 31 deadline, with the Federal Bureau of Reclamation saying it could step in to unilaterally impose cuts if a new usage agreement could not be reached in the meantime.

Bipartisan push to restrict Chinese oil reserve sales

A bipartisan group of senators are introducing a bill aimed at limiting the sales of oil from the country’s emergency supply to entities controlled by China.

The bill was put forward Wednesday and spearheaded by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

Under the legislation, companies under the ownership or control of the Chinese government or its Communist Party will not be able to purchase oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, unless they sell the fuel outside of China.

The proposal was also backed by a wide bipartisan group of senators, including Sens. Angus King (I-Maine), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).

“This bill would ensure that we are not risking our energy security by selling our petroleum reserves to China, and the bipartisan support this legislation has received shows just how important it is for America to be energy secure and independent,” Manchin said in a statement.