Despite facing resistance from environmental activists, US President Joe Biden has given the green light to a significant oil and gas drilling project in Alaska.
According to ConocoPhillips, the organization spearheading the Willow project, the initiative will result in the generation of local investments and the creation of thousands of job opportunities.
However, in the past few weeks, there has been a surge of online activism, particularly among youth activists on TikTok, against the $8 billion (£6.6 billion) proposal.
Opponents contended that the project should be stopped due to its adverse effects on climate and wildlife.
Located on Alaska’s remote North Slope, it is the largest oil development in the region for decades and could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day.
According to US Bureau of Land Management estimates, that means it will generate up to 278 million metric tonnes of CO2e over its 30-year lifetime – the equivalent of adding two million cars to US roads every year.
CO2e is a unit used to express the climate impact of all greenhouse gases together, as if they were all emitted as carbon dioxide.
Monday’s announcement will allow only three drill sites for the project instead of the five that were initially proposed – a compromise of sorts with anti-Willow activists.
The approval also comes one day after the Biden administration imposed limits on oil and gas drilling in 16 million acres of Alaska and the Arctic Ocean.
Environmentalists had argued Willow is inconsistent with President Biden’s pledges to lead on climate action.
More than one million letters of protest were written to the White House, and a Change.org petition calling for Willow to be halted drew more than three million signatures.
“It’s the wrong move and will be a disaster for wildlife, lands, communities, and our climate,” environmental charity Sierra Club said on Monday.
Sonny Ahk, a young Iñuipat activist from Alaska who campaigned against Willow, said the development would “lock in Arctic oil and gas extraction for another 30 years and catalyse future oil expansion in the Arctic”.
“While out-of-state executives take in record profits, local residents are left to contend with the detrimental impacts of being surrounded by massive drilling operations,” he said.
But all three lawmakers who represent Alaska in Congress, including one Democrat, pushed for the project’s approval, touting it as a much-needed investment in the region’s communities.
They also argued it would help boost domestic energy production and lessen the country’s reliance on foreign oil.
“This was the right decision for Alaska and our nation,” added ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance on Monday.
The US energy giant, which is already Alaska’s largest crude oil producer, will enhance energy security, create good union jobs and provide benefits to Alaska Native communities, he said.
