By Tessa Nacke
On March 13, the Biden administration approved an oil drilling project known by the name of “Willow.”
Willow is an Alaskan oil reserve owned by ConocoPhillips. This reserve is close to the Arctic Ocean, and isn’t the first oil drilling project started by ConocoPhillips.
“ConocoPhillips is a Houston-based energy company that has been exploring and drilling for oil in Alaska for years,” CNN Politics said.
Willow directly affects an area called the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska [NPR-A]. NPR-A was recognized as federal land back in the 1920s.
The proposed project is estimated to cost anywhere from $8 billion to $10 billion dollars and will be the biggest oil drilling project in America to date.
There are three drilling sites planned, which is less than the originally proposed five sites. Negotiations between the president and ConocoPhillips occurred to keep the drilling sites away from the various animal habitats found in the NPR-A. The project is targeted to take around 499 acres of land from the NPR-A. And according to the Washington Post, “Willow could produce 576 million barrels of oil over 30 years.”
This oil resource would help the U.S. become less dependent on foreign oil and help drive gas prices lower. Some Alaskans claim that the revenue would bring about an economic boom and would help fund services such as education and healthcare.
On the other hand, environmentalists groups, such as Earthjustice, are working to stop the construction and production of Willow. This controversial project has sparked protests from activists, young people and even social media users. #StopWillow has been trending on TikTok over the past few weeks.
With Willow’s 30-year lifespan, 239 million metric tons of carbon dioxide would be released into the atmosphere. This could rapidly speed up the greenhouse effect already taking place on Earth. Willow also increases the U.S.’s reliance on fossil fuels and could pose risks of oil spills and poor air quality.
This approval by the Biden administration goes against his previous promises to advocate for the environment.
However, ConocoPhillips already had permits and documentation approved by the Trump administration in 2020, prior to the Biden presidency.. Since ConocoPhillips had prior leases, if rejected, they would have sued the Biden administration, and could have possibly won billions.
“My strong inclination was to disapprove of it across the board, but the advice I got from counsel was that if that were the case, we may very well lose in court,” President Biden said at a news conference.
