Appeals court weighs whether to let stand Biden’s approval of Willow oil project in Alaska

By BECKY BOHRER
Associated Press

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An appeals court panel is deciding whether to let stand the Biden administration’s approval of the massive Willow oil project in a federal petroleum reserve on Alaska’s North Slope. Environmentalists and a grassroots group called Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic are seeking to have last March’s approval overturned. Arguments before a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel were held Monday in San Francisco. The court did not immediately rule. A federal judge in Alaska in November upheld the administration’s approval of Willow and both she and an appeals court rejected requests to halt winter work on the project pending the appeals.