Biden Defends Trump Approval of Conoco Arctic Oil Project

The Justice Department is defending the Trump administration’s approval of a massive ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. project in federal court, over the objections of environmentalists who say the government didn’t adequately consider the venture’s effect on polar bears and the climate.

In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, the Biden administration said Wednesday that Conoco’s Willow project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska was approved only after years of analysis, consultation and public input.

“Plaintiffs seek to stop the extraction of resources from the petroleum reserve by cherry-picking the records” of the Bureau of Land Management, ...