One Step Forward or 10 Steps Back?: A Breakdown of the Willow Project

With the ongoing environmental crisis, society has been coming up with new ways to preserve our resources as we are consuming them at a faster rate than we can replenish them. However, what happens when we are faced with a massive project that will benefit our economy at the expense of our wildlife, our ecosystems, and most importantly, our lives? While running for president in 2020, Joe Biden pledged to put an end to new oil and gas drilling on public lands and seas; nevertheless, three years later, the Biden administration approved of The Willow Project in Alaska, which is sure to have a catastrophic effect on our Earth.


The Beginning of The Willow Project: Who, What, Where, and When

Located on Alaska's North Slope, in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve owned by the federal government, ConocoPhillips plans an extensive and decades-long oil drilling operation known as the Willow Project.

The Houston-based energy company, ConocoPhillips, has been exploring the idea of drilling in Alaska for years. Fortunately, in 2020, ConocoPhillips finally proposed the idea of The Willow Project, which was approved by the Trump administration on the agreement of the construction of five drill pads. Fast forward to a couple of years after Joe Biden has become president, the reduction to three drill pads meant that they drilled 90% of the oil originally planned. Due to ConcoPhillip’s existing leases and the fact that the court would not allow the Biden administration to reject or drastically decrease the scale of the project, they felt helpless in keeping to their promise, as their only options are to go on-board with the project or face legal action from ConocoPhillips.


The Aftermath Of The Approval:

Since the Biden administration’s approval of the project, ConocoPhillips is free to start construction, yet due to the number of legal charges they face, what will occur next is unpredictable. For one, an environmental law organization called “Earthjustice” is anticipated to submit a complaint against the project soon, as well as ask for a court order to forbid it from moving forward. They have already started planning out their legal strategy, stating that the ability of the Biden administration to preserve surface resources on Alaska's public lands includes taking measures to decrease the number of carbon emissions that the Willow Project will inevitably increase. Not only that, but other environmental groups are doing what they can to put a pause on the ConocoPhillips Willow Project.

Keep in mind that the extraction site is planned to contain 600 million barrels of oil, and construction can only begin during the winter seasons, as the ice is crucial in building the infrastructure such as roads, pipelines, and a processing facility. Any delay on this project can postpone it much longer than many may expect, and if environmental groups can put a pause on the project, which may only last about a year, the oil may take years to reach the market.

Not only are environmental groups doing what they can to put this project on hold, but thanks to social media, there is much backlash including over 1 million letters written to the White House and a petition signed on change.org with over 3 million signatures. Without a doubt, one of the main groups that will be affected by this are the Indigenous groups located near the planned extraction site. Nuiqsut Mayor Rosemary Ahtuangaruak and two other Nuiqsut city and tribal leaders said in a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland that the village will suffer the most from the Willow Project, arguing that “villages get some financial benefits from oil and gas activity but experience far fewer benefits than Nuiqsut.”

On the other hand, there are those that strongly agree that this project will have a significant benefit to our lives. Many of the state’s lawmakers are convinced that the project will create jobs, increase domestic energy production and decrease the country’s dependency on foreign oil. In fact, on March 3, the three lawmakers a part of Alaska’s bipartisan congressional delegation met with Joe Biden and his advisors urging him to follow through with the Willow Project. Not only that, but a union of Alaska’s native groups located on the north slope also approve of the project, claiming that the economic benefits that come with this project can not only improve their quality of life but healthcare and education too.

As far as environmental benefits go, it is said that the oil extraction process will be more sustainable than getting it from other countries such as Saudi Arabia, but this argument does not cover the true extent of how detrimental this project will be to our environment. According to the Biden administration, the Willow Project will produce enough oil to release 9.2 million metric tons of carbon pollution, which is equivalent to 2 million gas-powered cars. In addition to the global warming concerns, people also fear it may harm the wildlife, ecosystem, and animal migration patterns in Alaska.

With our ecosystems’ collapsing, is it wise to begin a new project which will erase all of the efforts put into saving our Earth? Moreover, if a government is unable to protect its environment, is there hope that it can protect its citizens?