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Alaska’s Willow oil: ‘Carbon bomb’ or economic opportunity?

The Biden administration is approving the controversial major Willow oil project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope, according to two people familiar with the decision.

The decision being announced Monday is one of President Joe Biden’s most consequential climate choices and is likely to draw condemnation from environmentalists who say it flies in the face of the Democratic president’s pledges.

Mr. Biden’s plan would allow three drill sites initially, the sources said, which project developer ConocoPhillips has said would include about 219 total wells. The company has said it considers that option workable. ConocoPhillips will relinquish rights to about 68,000 acres of existing leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, two of the sources said.

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