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Haaland criticized over ‘difficult’ choice on Willow project
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FILE - Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announces that her agency will work to restore more large bison herds during a speech for World Wildlife Day at the National Geographic Society in Washington, March 3, 2023. - photo by AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File
WASHINGTON (AP) — In early March, President Joe Biden met with members of Alaska's bipartisan congressional delegation as they implored him to approve a contentious oil drilling project in their state. Around the same time, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland held a very different meeting on the same topic. Gathering at Interior headquarters a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) from the White House, leaders of major environmental organizations and Indigenous groups pleaded with Haaland, the first Native American Cabinet member, to use her authority to block the Willow oil project.