Just Based On Climate, Biden Is Absolutely Unfit For Another Term

Had I believed Biden’s campaign promise to end drilling permits of federal lands, I might have voted for him in 2020. But I neither believed him nor voted for him. The only thing I ever believed him say during his campaign was when he told the Wall Street banksters that nothing fundamental would change. That’s the Joe Biden I’ve been sickened by since the early 1970s when he first ran for office as a sleaze ball conservative Democrat who always aspired to be a millimeter better than a Republican, but nothing beyond that. And look where it got him!

The Department of the Interior tried to make Biden’s actions look more palatable to Democrats and a little less deadly for the planet by emphasizing that they scaled back the ConocoPhillips proposal and only approved 3 of the 5 drilling sites, with some mumbo jumbo about scaling-back the Willow Project “within the constraints of valid existing rights under decades-old leases issued by prior Administrations.” Jamal Raad, co-founder Evergreen Action, called that “lipstick on a pig.”

That Biden has been caught in a boldfaced lie isn’t something you’re going to hear from even the most seriously Climate-motivated members of Congress, not even from the ones condemning his disastrous North Slope decision. The joint statement from the Democrats on the Natural Resources Committee, led by Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), AOC (D-NY) and Jared Huffman (D-CA) + Senator Ed Markey, Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Climate, noted that “The Biden administration has committed to fighting climate change and advancing environmental justice— today’s decision to approve the Willow project fails to live up to those promises. Their decision ignores the voices of the people of Nuiqsut, our frontline communities, and the irrefutable science that says we must stop building projects like this to slow the ever more devastating impacts of climate change. While we acknowledge that the administration also just announced that it is conserving new public lands and waters in the Arctic, split decisions in the face of the climate crisis are not good enough. This administration clearly knows what the path to a cleaner and more just future looks like— we wish they hadn’t chosen to stray so far from that path with today’s Willow decision. The only acceptable Willow project is no Willow project.”

Oregon progressive Jeff Merkley came closest to reflecting the anger most “woke” Democrats feel, calling it a complete betrayal of Biden’s promise not to allow more drilling and a complete catastrophe to rein in climate chaos and pointing out that “You can’t ask other countries to forego their fossil fuels if we keep greenlighting projects here in America.” A couple days later, he was still seethings:

Yesterday, reporting for The Guardian, Rebecca Solnit wrote that “Biden promised no more drilling on federal lands, ‘period, period’. This week he approved the massive Willow project… an act of terrorism against the climate.”

This massive oil-drilling project in the wilderness of northern Alaska goes against science and the administration’s many assurances that it cares about climate and agrees that we must make a swift transition away from fossil fuel. Like the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, Joe Biden seems to think that if we do some good things for the climate we can also do some very bad things and somehow it will all even out… As Bill McKibben likes to say, you can’t bargain with physics.

You can try to bargain with the public, but the motivation behind this decision is hard to figure out. The deal was inherited from the Trump administration, and rejecting it would have been a break with convention, but convention dooms us, and we need the break.

Biden was elected in no small part by the participation of young voters who supported his strong climate platform. As a candidate he promised: “And by the way, no more drilling on federal lands, period. Period, period, period.” Six million letters and 2.3m comments opposed to the project were sent to the White House, many from young people galvanized by social media. The American public, Republican minority aside, is strongly engaged with the reality of climate crisis now and the urgency of doing something about it.

I call it an act of terrorism, because this drilling project in Alaska produces petroleum, which will be burned, which will send carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, where it will contribute to climate chaos that will affect people in the South Pacific, the tropics, the circumpolar Arctic, will affect the melting of the Greenland ice shield (this month reaching a shocking 50F warmer than normal). It doesn’t just produce petroleum; it produces huge quantities of it, resulting in an estimated 278m metric tons of carbon emissions.

This makes it, like the Permian Basin oil extraction in the US south-west and the tar sands in Alberta, a carbon bomb. Former vice-president Al Gore recently put it this way: “The proposed expansion of oil and gas drilling in Alaska is recklessly irresponsible… The pollution it would generate will not only put Alaska Native and other local communities at risk, it is incompatible with the ambition we need to achieve a net zero future.”

Earlier, the New York Times reported, “The administration says the country must pivot away from fossil fuels but backed a project set to produce more than 100,000 barrels of oil each day for 30 years.” In 30 years it will be 2053, three years after we are supposed to have achieved a fully fossil-free future.

…We are already failing to stop runaway climate change. Adding this carbon bomb to the total makes it worse– both for the actual damage to the climate and for the signal the US is sending to the world. The Biden administration has made a colossal mistake.

Dom Jones a congressional candidate in Orange County who describes herself as an environmental justice champion, told me last night that her "heart aches to learn that President Biden has given the green light to the Willow Project in Alaska, despite his 2020 promise to limit new oil drilling permits. The proposed project by ConocoPhillips is the largest oil development to proceed under the Biden administration, set to pump 576 million barrels of oil from a federally-managed reserve on Alaska's North Slope over 30 years. What's more concerning is that the project site lies within a protected area that millions of migratory birds call home and is also a vital subsistence food source for a village of 500 Alaska Natives. This decision will pollute the air, hurt the natives, and hold us back from moving forward in our pursuit of environmental justice. Although the administration claims to have paired the approval with an announcement to expand or strengthen protections across 16 million acres in the Alaskan Arctic, both onshore and in coastal waters, the new conservation measures don't suffice. Environmental groups have roundly condemned Willow's approval, citing that it will set back the climate fight and embolden an industry that's determined to destroy our planet."

You might want to consider contributing to Dom's campaign here. She finished up with she told me by adding that "We must prioritize the well-being of indigenous communities and our environment over corporate interests. It's time to shift towards renewable energy instead of expanding oil drilling, which will only continue to exacerbate the climate crisis. The decision to greenlight the Willow Project weighs heavy on the hearts of all who strive to protect our environment. We must continue to raise our voices and never give up in the push to protect human life by protecting the life of our environment."