Background

History 

Drilling for oil is nothing new, and especially not in Alaska; around 159 million barrels of crude oil were produced by the Alaskan oil industry in 2020. The actual amount of oil extracted in Alaska has decreased drastically since the 1980s, but it is still a lot of oil being extracted. The Willow Project originated in 1999 when the Clinton administration approved to lease the land to ConocoPhillips. In 2018, the company began to try to acquire the permits needed to drill this land for oil. The Trump administration initially approved of the plan, but in 2021 an Alaskan judge ruled against this because of improper environmental analysis.

What is the Willow Project

The Willow Project was initially a propose to build five oil drilling pads in the National Petroleum Reserve- Alaska, the largest piece of federal land. This federal land holds a lot of potential for oil drilling, but it is also essential habitat for many species. It would be able to extract up to 600 million barrels of oil, and this would generate billions of dollars in tax revenue for the US government.

The Biden Administrations Role

The Biden Administration approved a reduced version of the Willow Project with three drilling pads instead of the proposed five. This caused public outrage because of Biden’s promises to reduce the impacts of climate change and to move to more environmentally friendly forms of energy during his campaign.

Opinion

Why it matters

This decision on the Willow Project matters because it will secure oil’s place in the Alaskan and US economy for the next thirty years. It also has widespread environmental impacts, not only because of the use of oil itself, but also the land that it has to destroy to drill for this oil. This federal land is relatively undisturbed, and it has become vital habitat for many types of animals and is also important breeding grounds for many species of birds.

What could have been done 

While a lot of outrage is direct at Biden, he may not be entirely responsible for the Willow Project. The initial leases were granted in 1999, and the leases allowed for ConocoPhillips to develop the land. If Biden had tried to block the proposal, ConocoPhillips may have sued, and this lawsuit could have cost billions of dollars and likely would end with the development of the Willow Project anyways. Reducing the amount of oil drilling pads was one way the Biden administration may have tried to reduce the environmental impact.

My Opinion

I feel pretty conflicted on this issue. Environmentalism really matters to me, so ideally this proposal would have never gone through and instead the money needed to build these oil drilling pads could be put towards more sustainable forms of energy. But, I also acknowledge that the Biden administration may not have had much of a say in this issue. I am curious as to how this will affect the 2024 election season and if more people will vote for the Green party rather than for Joe Biden.