President Joe Biden has announced that he will prevent or limit oil drilling in 16 million acres of Alaska and the Arctic Ocean, closing off the rest of its federal waters from oil exploration. This move comes as regulators prepare to announce a final decision on the $8 billion Willow project, a controversial oil drilling plan pushed by ConocoPhillips in the petroleum reserve. Climate activists have rallied against project, calling it a “carbon bomb” that would be a betrayal of Biden’s campaign pledges to curb new oil and gas drilling. If the Biden administration believes it has authority to limit oil development in the petroleum reserve, officials should extend those protections to the Willow site.