Haaland defends Willow, says US won’t end oil drilling

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Interior Secretary Deb Haaland defended her department’s approval of the contentious Willow oil project on Friday, saying that despite President Joe Biden’s campaign promise to end new drilling on federal lands, “We’re not going to turn the faucet off and say we’re not drilling anymore.”

Speaking to the annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists, Haaland said the Biden administration is “following the science and the law when it comes to everything we do, and that includes gas and oil” leases considered by her agency, which oversees U.S. public lands and waters.