The climate tradeoff at heart of one of Biden's biggest climate decisions

[In It to Win It]

WaPo

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White House officials suggested to environmental groups in recent days that they may pair approval for a controversial Arctic oil project with new conservation measures in Alaska, but have failed to convince activists the idea is an acceptable compromise, according to three people involved in or briefed on the calls.

The high-stakes talks involve what some officials see as one of the most consequential climate decisions of President Biden’s term, a multibillion-dollar drilling project called Willow. The administration can announce a decision within days, and rejecting the project could lock the administration into a costly legal challenge and alienate key Alaska lawmakers in Congress.

The compromise measures under discussion would include a new ban on drilling in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska’s North Slope and more habitat protections for other parts of the state, said two of the people familiar with the talks, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential communications. They added that administration officials are seriously considering shrinking the Arctic project to just two approved drilling pads, a size so small that officials for ConocoPhillips — the company that has spent nearly five years pursuing federal approval — have suggested it would cause them to back out.

ConocoPhillips has controlled leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska awarded by the Interior Department since 1999, giving it a strong case if the federal government blocks its ability to develop, legal experts said. That has pushed the administration to search for a compromise, hoping to curb backlash on a project that conservationists see as an irreversible catastrophe.

So far, environmental groups aren’t buying it.