Attorneys representing environmentalists and an Alaska Native group filed a lawsuit Tuesday asking a federal judge to block approval of ConocoPhillips’ Willow project in the remote region north of the Arctic Circle. The Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, Sierra Club and other groups said Interior officials ignored the fact that every ton of greenhouse gasses emitted by the project would contribute to sea ice melt, which endangers polar bears and Alaskan villages.
The International Energy Agency has said new drilling investments must be halted if nations, including the U.S., hope to reach their 2050 goal of net-zero emissions, meaning only as much planet-warming gas is released into the atmosphere as can be absorbed.
