A Massive Oil Drilling Project
By Khadija Coats
On March 13, 2023, The Biden Administration approved one of the most controversial and largest oil developments on federal lands: Willow, an oil reserve in Arctic Alaska. According to Conocophillips, the oil company that currently controls Willow, the project is estimated to cost at $8 billion to $10 billion. The project is expected to have around 3 drilling sites with up to 199 total wells.
Willow, sometimes referred to as a “carbon bomb”, is an extraction project that is big enough to generate more than 250 million metric tons of CO2 to the atmosphere in the next 30 years. With the Willow Project, indirect and direct greenhouse emissions, disrupted animal migration patterns, destroyed habitats, and several public health risks to Alaska Native communities are expected to follow.
However, with around 5.6 million people urging the administration to take climate action, we can only be hopeful that some efforts will be made to prevent further construction and to move our country forward in a more sustainable way.
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/14/biden-president-approved-alaska-willow-project