Oil drilling plan on Alaskan North Slope
On March 3rd, three Alaskan bipartisan congressional delegation members met with President Biden and his administration to urge them to approve Project Willow, an oil drilling plan by the global petrolatum company, ConocoPhillips. This project will utilize a portion of Alaska’s North Slope located in BLM’s (Bureau of Land Management) National Petroleum Reserve.
Following the meeting, the Biden administration announced it may approve the project, prompting major backlash from Climate protestors and prominently Gen Z influencers who promote the hashtag, #Stop Willow and the Change.org petition against the project, on social media platforms.
“Three Million. That’s how many signatures the most popular Change.org petition opposing the Willow project has,” Connor Murray, an editor for Forbes magazine said. “Another Change.org petition with the same goal has nearly 900,000 signatures.”
Those opposing the bill bring up Biden’s election promise to stop new oil drill projects with his executive powers. They also bring up the 400 types of fauna and wildlife in the North Slope and the surrounding Native tribes, due to the negative environmental impact on their communities and wildlife.
“This project would disproportionately affect the village of Nuiqsut,” Sonny Ahk, the creator of the viral petition, said. “Their population faces disproportionately high rates of chronic illnesses like cancer and respiratory ailments due to the high amounts of pollution they’re exposed to.”
On the other hand, supporters of the project say the economic advantages it may bring will aid Alaskan citizens and Native groups, due to ConocoPhillips pledging 17 Million dollars for the Alaskan government and Native Tribes.
“Willow presents an opportunity to continue that investment in the communities,” Nagruk Harcharek, president of the advocacy group Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, said. “Without that money and revenue stream, we’re reliant on the state and the feds.”
Overall, whether or not the backlash is successful to stop the project, a decision from the Biden administration is due sometime this week on whether to approve or disapprove the ConocoPhiliphs plan.
“Biden will be remembered for what he did to tackle the climate crisis,” Jeremy Lieb, an environmental justice attorney said. “As things stand today, it’s not too late for him to step up and pull the plug on this carbon bomb.”
For further reading about the Willow Project look at Factbox: What is the Willow Project and why does it spark green opposition? , What to know about the controversial Willow oil drilling project in Alaska, and Tiktok push targets Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
karinaa • Aug 22, 2023 at 11:20 am
super cool! I love parnita