Willow: The Oil Debate

Under the Biden Administration, formerly protected land in Alaska now drillable

A sign held by a protester reads, “Stop Willow.” What do they mean? What is Willow, and why do they want to stop it?

The signs reference the Willow project: a massive, decades-long oil drilling venture on Alaska’s North Slope, located in the federalowned Natural Petroleum Reserve, otherwise known as NPR-A. ConocoPhillips, a company that has been drilling oil in Alaska for years, proposed the Willow Project in 2020, after which it was approved by the Trump administration.

The project initially involved the construction of five drill pads, but it was cut down to three under the Biden administration. However, the company will still get to drill 90% of the oil they initially wanted from the project.

Currently, ConocoPhillips is the only company with oil drilling operations in the Natural Petroleum Reserve.

WHY ARE PEOPLE AGAINST WILLOW?

The Willow project is yet to begin, due to a number of legal challenges facing it.

The environmental law group Earthjustice plans to file a lawsuit against Willow, and has appealed for an order to block progress on the project.

“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 for Earthjustice, told CNN.

Many other environmental groups are seeking to take action against the project as well. They are concerned about how the project could destroy the habitats of native species and change migration patterns of animals including caribou.

According to the US Bureau of Land Management, he project could generate up to 278 million metric tons of CO₂ over its 30-year lifetime.

More than one million letters have been sent to the White House in protest of the project, and there is a Change.org petition to halt the project with more than 5 million signatures.