When Joe Biden was campaigning to be president in 2020, he made his stance on new oil drilling

in the U.S.

Pretty clear.

Just a quick question about how you feel about drilling in the Arctic refuge.

Totally opposed to it.

Completely totally opposed.

He went one step further.

How would you describe his position on drilling on U.S. lands now?

Well, it's a little bit more complicated than it was during the campaign.

That's our colleague Andrew Rastusha.

The Willow project is one of the largest oil drilling projects in the U.S.

It's expected to produce tens of millions of barrels of oil each year.

But environmentalists see it's approval as a betrayal of Biden's climate promises.

So it's a complicated picture.

It's not that he is just Mr. Oil and Gas and it proves every project that comes across

his desk.

But there is this element of needing to address the interests of the country.

So his argument is in the short term, we need to make a series of smart decisions about

oil and gas.

Welcome to the journal.

Our show about money, business and power.

I'm Ryan Knutson.

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