On March 13, the Biden Administration approved the Willow project, the largest oil and gas project in the United States, sparking immediate outrage across America.
Numerous environmental groups vehemently oppose it, arguing that it will have a detrimental, irreversible impact on our environment. Prior to its approval, Evergreen Action Chief of Staff Lena Moffitt told the Washington Post, “Rejecting a project like Willow should be a no-brainer for a climate leader like Biden. And if he doesn’t, it’ll be a stain on his legacy.”
The project will take place in Alaska’s North Slope near the Arctic Sea, which is said to contain over 600 million barrels of oil. ConocoPhillips, the company that proposed this venture, states, “The $6 billion Willow Project would create 2,500 jobs in the area and generate up to $17 billion in revenue for the state and federal governments as well as local communities.” At peak performance, the Willow project is expected to churn out 180,000 barrels of oil per day—that’s around 1.6% of the U.S.’s current oil production from one site alone.
In theory, this project sounds promising. However, it is important to keep in mind the environmental ramifications that will result from this bold venture. This brazen endeavor could create 278 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions during its projected 30-year lifespan—the equivalent of driving 2 million cars around over the course of three decades. Furthermore, environmental activists also worry that this project will adversely impact the migration patterns and habitats of animals native to Alaska such as caribou. In a press release, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin exclaimed that he is “… appalled by [The Willow Project’s] contents, making it crystal clear that this administration is literally putting their radical climate agenda ahead of the needs of the people of Alaska and the United States.” Additionally, young voters have rallied on social media against the proposal with the hashtag #StopWillow in posts that have amassed tens of millions of views. A petition to “say no the willow project” on Change.org has more than one million signatures and continues to grow.
Link to petition: https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-willow-project
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/02/politics/willow-project-petition-concessions-biden-climate/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/01/willow-project-biden-conoco-phillips/