In another win for American energy development, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has declined to intervene in the federal approval of Alaska's North Slope Willow Project. The Willow Project is a petroleum extraction project that will take place on the eastern edge of Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve (NPR-A).
As is so often the case, Must Read Alaska's Suzanne Downing has the details.
A three‑judge panel of the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday declined to take apart a Biden-era federal approval for ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project on the edge of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Though the court said there were some procedural shortcomings in the Bureau of Land Management’s review, those errors were minor in nature and insufficient to block the project.
“We’re thrilled that the Willow Project can move forward. The court highlighted its significant benefits for our state, including job creation and better access,” said Gov. Mike Dunleavy. “The tide is turning. Common sense in the courts hopefully becomes a constant in the future. Alaska is a resource development state. We do it better than any place in the planet.”
This is a significant win, and may plow the (ice) road for more such projects. And when the greenies and environmental activists, most of whom seem to have never spent much time out in the actual environment, start complaining, we can point out the amazingly small footprint of this project:
While the court sent the environmental impact study back to the BLM and directed officials to explain their decision for reducing the drilling plan from five drilling pads to three, the question of an appeal to the US Supremes remains. But work is already underway at Willow, located on land set aside 100 years ago specifically for petroleum development. The size of Indiana, the NPR-A covers approximately 23 million acres. The Willow footprint is 385 acres, less than 0.002% of the total NPR-A. ConocoPhillips plans on first oil production by 2029.
385 acres. My Dad's farm near Fairbank, Iowa, was larger than that. Modern drilling technologies have made it possible to exploit a large area for gas/oil extraction with a small surface footprint. And, as we seem to have to constantly point out to the green energy nuts, this part of Alaska isn't the lovely mountain vistas, spruce forests, and clear streams you see in the tourism commercials; it's mostly coastal tundra. President Trump made energy development a key point in his 2024 campaign, and while in the interests of accuracy, we note that the Willow Project was approved under the Biden administration, was have already seen more plans from the Trump administration to take full advantage of the Great Land's energy and mineral wealth.
See Also: Energy Partners Eager to Kick in $115 Billion in Alaskan LNG
Drill, Baby, Drill: Key Trump Energy Officials To Visit Alaskan Oil Fields
This is good for Alaska, and it's good for the United States. It brings the North Slope jobs, and it's important to note that this is an area where, without energy development, jobs for the local villages would be thin on the ground indeed. And, we might also note, especially to our Democrat neighbors, that these remote villages are populated largely by "people of color" - Alaska natives.
And, once again, no, we're not tired of winning yet. Not by a long shot.
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