REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Acquire Licensing RightsSummaryCompanies US judge upholds approvals for $8 billion Willow projectGroups say they are considering an appealNov 9 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Alaska on Thursday upheld U.S. approvals for ConocoPhillips’ multibillion-dollar Willow oil and gas drilling project in the state’s Arctic, rejecting environmental and tribal groups' concerns that the project poses too large of a climate threat. U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason in Anchorage dismissed a lawsuit filed by environmental and tribal groups challenging the $8 billion project's approvals, which the U.S. Opponents claim the project would release hundreds of millions of tons of carbon pollution into the atmosphere, aggravating climate change and damaging pristine wilderness. The approvals give ConocoPhillips permission to construct three drill pads, 25.8 miles of gravel roads, an air strip and hundreds of miles of ice roads. The environmental and tribal groups challenged the approvals in two lawsuits filed in March.

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Persons: Brendan McDermid, Sharon Gleason, Gleason, Erik Grafe, ConocoPhillips didn't, Joe Biden's, Iñupiat, Ian Dooley, Carole Holley, Earthjustice, Bridget Psarianos, Suzanne Bostrom, Rickey Turner, Paul Turcke, Ryan Steen, Whitney Brown, Jason Morgan, Luke Sanders, Stoel, Clark Mindock Organizations: ConocoPhillips, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, ConocoPhillips ’ multibillion, U.S, U.S . Interior Department, Earthjustice, Interior Department, of Land Management, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, Environmental, of Land, for Biological, District of, Trustees, U.S . Department of Justice, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Alaska, Anchorage, District of Alaska