FILE – This 2019 aerial photo provided by ConocoPhillips shows an exploratory drilling camp at the proposed site of the Willow oil project on Alaska’s North Slope. President Joe Biden will prevent or limit oil drilling in 16 million acres of Alaska and the Arctic Ocean, an administration official said on Sunday, March 12, 2023. The expected announcement comes as regulators prepare to announce a final decision on the controversial Willow project. (ConocoPhillips via AP, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is approving the major Willow oil project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope. The decision is one of President Joe Biden’s most consequential climate decisions and is likely to draw condemnation from environmentalists who say it flies in the face of the Democratic president’s climate pledges. Climate activists have been outraged Biden appeared open to greenlighting the project, which they say put his climate legacy at risk. They say allowing oil company ConocoPhillips to move forward with the drilling plan also would break Biden’s campaign promise to stop new oil drilling on public lands. ConocoPhillips says Alaska’s Willow project could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day.