The Willow Project, Explained
A few weeks ago, an infographic made by Instagram handles @impact and @environment titled “The Biden Administration has approved the Willow project in Alaska” circulated across Instagram. One user on my feed reposted the infographic on her story, writing “Another disappointment from the Biden administration.” Another user reposted the infographic, saying, “Can you all please read at least ONE article before trusting everything you see on the internet. Yes, this is not good for our environment, but it’s also not as black and white as it’s made out to be.” Indeed, the controversial Willow Project is not as black and white as it seems.
Here is what should be understood.
What is the Willow Project?
The Willow Project is a decades-long project proposed by ConocoPhillips, an energy company from Texas that has been drilling oil in Alaska for years. The project involves drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, which is an area that holds up to 600 million barrels of oil and is owned by the federal government. The project is the largest proposed oil drilling on United States public land in decades.
When was the project proposed?
The Trump Administration first approved the project when ConocoPhillips proposed it in 2020. ConocoPhillips was initially approved to construct five drill pads, but the U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved only approved three drill sites, which is 60% of the oil they originally sought to pursue. However, the oil would take years to reach the market due to the amount of time it would take for the project to be constructed.
Support for the Willow Project
There is widespread political support for the Willow Project from Republican politicians in Alaska. Legislators claim that the project would create over 2,500 jobs, boost energy production within the country, lessen the reliance on oil from foreign countries, and that gas prices would lower. In fact, all three lawmakers (two are Republican and one is Democrat) in Alaska’s congressional delegation, the group of officials elected to the U.S. Congress, urged President Joe Biden to pass the project.
The Impact on the Environment and on Native American Communities
In their plan to handle its effects, the Biden administration admitted that x “the project would generate enough oil to release 9.2 million metric tons of planet-warming carbon pollution a year,” which could create a detrimental impact on the ever-growing climate crisis. To offset 50 percent of the net omissions from the project, the Biden administration proposed a reforestation project.
There are also concerns that the project will disturb the natural environment in the Arctic. The Action Network, an open platform that empowers individuals and groups to organize for progressive causes, said that “The Willow Project will be devastating for all those that call the Arctic home. The noise, traffic, and pollution the project brings will disrupt ecosystems that Indigenous Alaskans have relied on for millennia. And the project threatens the already vulnerable caribou population — a vital resource many native communities rely on.”
Environmental law groups such as Earthjustice argue it is a “huge climate threat inconsistent with this administration’s promises to take on the climate crisis.”
Alaska Natives living close to the project in the Native village of Nuiqsut showed deep concern about the project. According to CNN, Nuiqsut Mayor Rosemary Ahtuangaruak and two other Nuiqsut city and tribal officials wrote a letter saying that “the village would bear the brunt of health and environmental impacts from Willow.”
President Biden's Role in The Willow Project
Throughout his 2020 campaign, President Joe Biden appealed to voters with his firm stance against drilling on public lands, vowing to “end new oil and gas drilling on public lands and waters.” President Biden later pledged, on February 19, 2020, “No more drilling on federal lands, period, period, period.” It was, he added, “a disaster” to drill for oil in the Arctic.
President Biden upheld this view when he took office in 2021, issuing a moratorium on new oil- and gas-drilling leases on federal lands and in federal waters. By June, a judge in Louisiana overturned the moratorium.
The Administration ultimately chose to approve the project due to “high gas prices, a looming election, and fears of a costly legal battle,” according to the New York Times. With the 2024 election approaching, President Biden seeks to appease Republicans and Democrats who express their support for the project. Additionally, he plans to expand his support to moderates and expand past his current youth popularity. While many Democrats care about the environment, both parties support the idea of gaining affordable energy. Mary Peltola, a Democrat and the state’s first Alaska Native elected to Congress, supported the Project.
Additionally, ConocoPhillips has held leases to the drilling site for over twenty years, and refusing a permit would possibly trigger a lawsuit that would cost $5 billion.
The Willow Project is a complex issue and people are right to be concerned about how Biden has gone back on his word. However, there are many sides to the story, and it is imperative to see those sides.
Kiran Yeh is a junior and Law and Society major at Brooklyn Technical High School and a Next Gen Civic Fellow. Kiran is the Managing Editor of her school’s newspaper, The Survey, and has written for other publications previously. She has been involved in political campaigns and is most interested in writing articles regarding politics.