The Willow Project: An American Debate

As of March 2023, the president of the USA, Joe Biden, has approved the $8 billion (£6.49 billion) Willow Project to go ahead. The Willow Project entails the drilling for oil and gas at three separate sites over coming decades across the 23m-acre National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. 

Since the proposal for the Willow Project in late February 2023, there has been huge uproar from environmentalists globally and many Alaskan native communities. As a sign of protest, 4.5 million people have signed the Change.org protest. However, the project was approved with many in support, such as the Alaska Senator, Dan Sullivan stating in an interview with Fox News that “the project will generate 2500 jobs, 75% of which will be Union jobs,” and that the U.S are “currently importing 100,000 barrels of oil a day from Venezuela, an area with horrible environmental standards and a horrible human rights record.”

During his leadership campaign, Biden clearly stated on his own website, “I will ensure the U.S. achieves a 100% clean energy economy and reaches net-zero emissions no later than 2050.” In reference to this, the Democrat of Oregon, Jeff Merkley deemed the Willow Project “a complete betrayal of Biden’s promise”, similar to the Guardian who named the decision ‘a complete U-turn on his promises to the U.S nation.”

Statistics from euronews shows that annually, the Willow Project will produce the equivalent emissions of approximately 66 coal-fire power plants combined, in other words 278 million tonnes of greenhouse gases. “This will have irreversible effects on the atmosphere,” stated a student from USC. 

“This project would exacerbate and speed up the climate crisis in the Artic,” stated Karlin Nageak Itchoak, senior Regional Director of the Artic Region. Scientists have predicted that the essential wildlife habitats in this region will be damaged, with ice melted at an increased speed, jeopardising the lives of thousands of endangered animals in the arctic. Perhaps the most well recognised impact on wildlife is the impact that polar bears will face, as stated by defenders of wildlife “the Willow Project would have devastating, irreparable impacts on the polar bears habitat”. Since the approval of the Willow Project, the rate at which polar bears are predicted to go extinct has decreased by 10 years, previously being estimated at 2050 by the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report but now decreasing to 2040, when scientists predict that only a slight fringe of ice will remain of their habitats.  

In reaction to these statistics, a coalition of six environmental groups, such as Trustees for Alaska, The Wilderness Society and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration for approving the project, stating that the approval violates federal laws. As well as this, various protests have been arranged in the U.S, with thousands of protestors presenting themselves in support of stopping the Willow Project. Despite the approval of the Willow Project, for environmentalists, the fight continues. 

By Tillie YR12

Carres Grammar School, Sleaford

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