Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Environment
Oliver Milman

Biden’s approval of Willow project shows inconsistency of US’s first ‘climate president’

Protesters gather near the White House on 3 March demanding that Biden stop the Willow oil drilling project planned to begin in Alaska.
Protesters gather near the White House on 3 March demanding that Biden stop the Willow oil drilling project. Photograph: Bryan Olin Dozier/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

Joe Biden continues to confound on the climate crisis. Hailed as America’s first “climate president”, Biden signed sweeping, landmark legislation to tackle global heating last year and has warned that rising temperatures are an “existential threat to humanity”. And yet, on Monday, his administration decided to approve one of the largest oil drilling projects staged in the US in decades.

The green light given to the Willow development on the remote tundra of Alaska’s northern Arctic coast, swatting aside the protests of millions of online petitioners, progressives in Congress and even Al Gore, will have global reverberations.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.