The Willow Project

What is the Willow Project?

Conoco Phillips, one of the largest energy companies in the world, has been granted permission to move forward with their proposed oilfield development project (Project Willow ) in Alaska's fragile North Slope by the Biden administration. The project promises to extract resources from an area of the Alaskan North Slope that is known for its delicate ecosystem. Today, it is one of the most promising regions in the U.S. for new oil but is also a key habitat for polar bears as well as tens of thousands of migrating caribou and waterfowl.

The Willow Project is expected to extract up to 590 million barrels of oil over the course of its lifetime. Conoco Phillips claims that the project will create over 1,000 jobs during peak construction and up to 450 jobs during operations.

Biden’s plan will initially allow three drilling sites, which Conoco Phillips estimates would include about 200 wells. In addition, the proposal calls for the construction of dozens of miles of roads, hundreds of miles of pipelines, airstrips, and a new processing facility. Despite Conoco originally proposing 5 drilling sites, the approval of even one site still presents a significant concern. While this project may have the potential to boost the economy, its detrimental impact on the environment overshadows any potential benefits.

The administration admits to it that the project would generate enough oil to release 9.2 million metric tons of planet-warming carbon pollution a year – equivalent to adding 2 million gas-powered cars to the roads.

“This is a huge climate threat and inconsistent with this administration’s promises to take on the climate crisis,” Jeremy Lieb, an Alaska-based senior attorney at environmental law group Earthjustice, told CNN. In addition to concerns about the fast-warming Arctic, groups are also concerned the project could destroy habitat for native species and alter the migration patterns of animals including caribou.

Is Biden going against his word?

During the 2020 elections, Joe Biden made several promises to combat environmental pollution and global warming. In addition to that, his own website, www.joebiden.com, acknowledges that there is no greater challenge facing our country and the world than climate change, and Biden has put forward an ambitious plan to address this serious threat and lead the world in tackling the climate emergency.

Even after making such bold promises, the Biden administration still decided to green-light the Willow project and a number of smaller projects.

Who’s for it?

Despite having multiple repercussions, some people have still decided to side with the project:

1. The state lawmakers say that the project will create jobs, boost domestic energy production, and lessen the country’s reliance on foreign oil. All three lawmakers in Alaska’s bipartisan congressional delegation met with President Joe Biden and his senior advisers on March 3, urging the president and his administration to approve the project.
   

2. A coalition of Alaska Native groups on the North Slope also supports the project, saying it could be a much-needed new source of revenue for the region and fund services including education and health care.

Who’s against it?

While some Alaska Native groups on the North Slope support the proposed Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling project as a potential source of revenue, other Native groups, including officials and tribal members from the Native village of Nuiqsut, are expressing deep concerns about the health and environmental impacts of the oil development. Nuiqsut Mayor Rosemary Ahtuangaruak and two other city and tribal officials from Nuiqsut have warned that the village would be most affected by the health and environmental consequences of the Willow project. Furthermore, a surge of online activism on various social media platforms, including Tiktok, has resulted in over one million letters being sent to the Biden administration opposing the project, and a Change.org petition to halt Willow has garnered over 2.8 million signatures.

Article Written By:

Shreyas Ghalmarkar, Writing Associate, TAO Design By:

Vaidehi Rajesh, Design Associate, TAO

Edited By:

Soham Agrawal, Managing Director, TAO