US approves controversial Willow oil drilling project in Alaska

On March 13, the US government approved an $8 billion oil drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope, known as the Willow Project, led by oil giant ConocoPhillips. This gives the green light to one of the largest oil developments on U.S. federal land, and opens the door to decades of drilling in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, which is home to caribou and migratory birds.

The decision allows for the construction of three drilling rigs in what is now tundra and wetlands, hundreds of kilometers of roads, pipelines, airways, gravel mines and processing facilities. The plan involves drilling through the permafrost, which requires refreezing the ground with cooling pipes to freeze the ground and stabilize the equipment.

The three approved drilling sites could produce 180,000 barrels of oil per day, or 1.5 percent of U.S. oil production. Critics warn the project will accelerate the climate crisis. The U.S. government estimates that it produces 9.2 million tons of carbon pollution annually, or about 2 million gas-powered cars. According to foreign estimates, about 260 million tons of coal, or about 70 coal-fired power plants, are needed for a year.

The project has been hotly contested by local Alaska Natives who say it will harm the health and food security of existing oil and gas development. “We are ground zero for the industrialization of the Arctic,” reads an open letter written by residents of the town of Nuyxut, 56 kilometers from the approved drilling site. This region has seen two to four times the temperature increase compared to the rest of the planet. “No dollar can replace what we put at risk.”

At the end of a lengthy environmental review this February, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management identified three drilling sites instead of the five ConcoPhillips originally wanted. However, the US Department of the Interior, which oversees the agency, issued a separate statement about the project with “grave concerns” – a highly unusual move. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Holland declined to comment on Willow, but said in a recent interview that “public lands belong not just to one industry, but to every American.”

“The agency says they’re approving a small project with minimal impact. That’s not true,” said Bridget Pisarianos of the nonprofit Trustees of Alaska. It shows again how they can be ignored.”

“The real cost of the Willow Project is to the animals and plants forced to breathe polluted air and drink polluted water,” he wrote. For several decades, the National Audubon Society has recognized the Willow Project area as critical to millions of migratory birds, including spotted owls (Somateria fischeri) and other endangered birds. It is also a breeding ground for the region’s caribou herds.Rangifer tarandus) Their population has recently declined significantly. The excavation divides this habitat, increases noise, air pollution and human traffic. Last March, methane gas released from another ConcoPhillips drilling site forced the evacuation of 500 people from Nuyxuit, where people were sickened by the industry’s pollution, he said.

When running for president, Joe Biden promised to ban all “new oil and gas permits on public lands and waters” to meet climate goals. In recent weeks, young activists have highlighted these campaign promises and the Paris Agreement in the #StopWillow online campaign.

In the year On March 12, the Biden administration announced that the US would provide protections for the Arctic Ocean and other protected areas. Conservation groups such as the Wilderness Society called those steps “welcome news,” but added, “We regret that they immediately followed the tragic decision to approve the Willow project.”