CLIMATE PROJECT TROUBLES

In March, the Biden Administration decided to approve the Willow Project. A venture of ConocoPhillips, the project is a drilling operation on Alaska’s North Slope in the National Petroleum Reserve. The area holds up to 600 million barrels of oil, which would take years to reach the market. Initially approved by the Trump administration in 2020 for the construction of five drilling pads, the Biden administration reduced it to three–still allowing the company to drill about 90% of the oil they are pursuing while garnering electoral support for reducing the environmental impact, though marginal. Some argue that the administration had its hands tied in the decision: ConocoPhillips, operating in 14 countries and strengthened by $47.621 billion in profit this past year, is a far stronger enemy than the non-profit environmental groups currently fighting the approval in Washington.

Some Alaska Native groups support the project, saying it could be a much-needed new source of revenue for the region and fund services. However, other Alaskan Natives living closer to the planned project are deeply concerned about the health and environmental impacts of significant oil development. Millions of people have petitioned the government to cease construction for fear of accelerating climate disaster. By the administration’s estimates, the project would generate enough oil to release 9.2 million metric tons of planetwarming carbon pollution a year – equivalent to adding 2 million gas-powered cars to the roads. This level of pollution is just more pavement on the road to climate disaster.

by Natalie Brown