Approval of divisive Alaska oil project upheld in blow to US climate goals

Advocates warned of ‘tragic consequences’ should the project in a remote part of northern Alaska go ahead

A federal judge has upheld the Biden administration’s approval of the Willow oil-drilling project in a remote part of northern Alaska in a move that environmental groups warned will have “tragic consequences” for the Arctic.

On Thursday, the US district court judge Sharon Gleason rejected requests by a grassroots Iñupiat group and environmentalists to undo the approval for the project in the federally designated National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

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Harvard professor’s fossil fuel links under scrutiny over climate grant

Colleagues and students query role of Jody Freeman, who won prestigious research grant despite sitting on ConocoPhillips board

An eminent Harvard environmental law professor’s links to the fossil fuel industry are under scrutiny from colleagues and students after she was awarded a prestigious research grant to investigate corporate climate pledges.

Jody Freeman, founding director of Harvard’s environmental and energy law program and former Obama-era White House advisor, is a paid board member of ConocoPhillips – a Fortune 500 American multinational oil and gas company that was ranked the 13th most polluting in the world by a Guardian investigation in 2019. The firm’s controversial Willow drilling project in Alaska was recently approved by the Biden administration.

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Dogs, Ponies, Rats, Unicorns & Rhinos

The top executives of the five biggest oil companies were on the hot seat yesterday, testifying at the Senate Committee on Finance for a contentious hearing entitled Oil & Gas Tax Incentives & Rising Energy Prices . ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, ConocoPhillips CEO Jim Mulva, Shell Oil Co.