Whatisthe WillowProject?

PriyalPatel

The Willow project has been getting a significant amount of attention globally. The Willow project is an oil drilling project allowing the corporation ConocoPhillips to drill on Alaska’s North Slope in an area that is part of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve. This area was kept untouched in case of any increased threats to the nation's access to petroleum. The drilling project would become the largest oil drilling project in U.S. Soil. The project has groups battling on opposing sides, both for and against it. Environmental advocates say it would cause unfathomable damage to the region, stating that climate change effects could be increased with the commencement of the drilling project.

It could also completely undermine the state's ability to protect its resources. Animals such as “grizzly bears and polar bears, caribou and hundreds of thousands of migratory birds “ will be affected by the Biden Administration's decision to allow the continuation of the project.

The project had been in negotiations since the Trump administration and was set to be approved in 2021. However, due to a significant flaw in the government’s environmental impact assessments of the project, Judge Sharon Gleason of the US District of Alaska stopped issuing federal permits in 2021 (Cloutier, 2023).

She had declared that the environmental review did not “consider key climate and environmental impacts to wildlife in the area ” and left out crucial information about the effects of global warming as well (Neilson, 2023). Even now, Judge Gleason has stated that the effects of the drilling and construction on the land do not outweigh the economic benefits that will be provided (Neilson, 2023). The Biden administration did have its hands tied in the sense that ConocoPhillips does have rights to the land from decades-old leases. The Biden administration has not approved the project in its entirety; however, it has approved 3 of the five oil drilling wells, thus decreasing the size of the project(Elbeshishi, 2023).

Stakeholders' Point of View

ConocoPhillips is currently the biggest crude oil producer in all of Alaska.

They have leased over thousands of acres of land in the state alone (ConocoPhillips, 2023). The company is expected to help deliver anywhere from “ $8 billion to $17 billion” in profits & revenues to the U.S. federal government, the state of Alaska, and local communities like the North Slope Borough communities (ConocoPhillips, 2023).

ConocoPhillips was found to have increased its lobbying efforts in order to get the Willow project passed. The Non-Profit Opensecrets.org found that the firm spent around “$8.7 million on federal lobbying in the last year, ” which is almost double the previously invested amount(Cloutier, 2023). Some have also speculated that ConocoPhillips has given up the 68,00 acres of its existing leasing area not to reduce its footprint on the land but to gain public support.

It allows the business to receive some praise rather be under public scrutiny.

Alaskan Natives are torn. Some believe that the project would be good for Alaska’s economy and help increase jobs in the area for years to come. However, others feel their connection with Alaska’s native wildlife and natural resources is being jeopardized.

Environmental Activists are aggravated by the inability of the government to stop the project. Activists had previously sent millions of letters to the White House and had gotten 5 million signatures for a petition on change.org; however, they could not convince the government to stop issuing the permits. The Actvitist have continued their fight against the approval by sending lawsuits. Some Alaskan Native groups are actually sending some of these lawsuits.