President Joe Biden himself came to the White House with a promise not to allow new oil and gas drilling on federal land, even reinforcing his commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement. That is why his administration’s decision to approve the Willow oil project in Alaska is considered by many organizations as contradictory, because it could affect the habitat of native communities, also opposed to the project.
President Joe Biden came to the White House with the promise that he would not allow new oil and gas drilling on federal land, he also committed to the Paris Climate Agreement to fight climate change, so the decision of his administration to approve an oil project in Alaska, is considered by many organizations as contradictory. The Willow project is located in an area known as the National Petroleum Reserve on state land, and could affect Native communities that oppose the project.
“We know that President Biden understands the existential threat of the climate, however, he is approving a project that precisely derails his own climate objectives, that is, there is a great contradiction in this situation,” says Robert Valencia, Spanish-language media strategist for the american organization earthjustice.
Alaska legislators and sponsors of the oil project say Willow will create thousands of jobs and contribute to the energy independence of the United States. A maximum production of 180,000 barrels of oil per day is expected. Nevertheless, Numerous environmental and native community organizations are vehemently opposed.
If carried out, the Willow project will be managed by ConocoPhillips, a US multinational oil extraction, transportation and processing company. Three drilling areas of the five initially requested by the company are planned, with approximately 219 wells.
The goal is to produce 576 million barrels of oil in about 30 years, according to estimates by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). And the emission of 9.2 million tons of CO2 per year, which represents 0.1% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States in 2019.
Approved during the Donald Trump administration, the Willow oil project was temporarily halted by a judge in 2021. A new review by the Joe Biden government revived it.
Faced with the threat of its application earthjustice “is looking into the details of the final decision, as there may be litigation as the Department of Interior does not appear to have fixed the myriad of legal flaws that we and other partners have identified for the agency in fact prior to that decision. ”, explains Robert Valencia and adds: “I could not give exact details, but I could say that the preliminary activity of i know phillips it is incredibly destructive and damaging.”
earthjustice insists: “such a project would endanger the largest remaining wildlife refuge in the polar region. Willow is home to polar bears, musk oxen, hundreds of thousands of migratory birds, and one of the largest remaining herds of caribou in the polar north. It would disrupt and wreak havoc on the largest undeveloped area in the United States.”
On the other hand, the The Biden administration intends to ban drilling over a large area of the Arctic Ocean that borders the National Petroleum Reserve.
