Controversial oil production: Biden administration approves project in Alaska
On Monday, the US government approved an oil production project in northern Alaska that was criticized by climate activists. Once completed, the Willow project is expected to produce up to 600 million barrels of oil. It would be the largest oil production project in the United States.
What is the Willow Project?
The Willow Project is an oil production project in the US state of Alaska. The oil company ConocoPhillips is responsible for the project and has been drilling for oil on state land in the National Petroleum Reserve for years. With the new project, the company hopes to gain access to more than 95 billion liters of oil or 600 million barrels.
Who is leading the project?
The company ConocoPhillips. It is a Texas energy company that has been drilling for oil in Alaska for years. In 2020, the project was first proposed by the group and approved by the then Trump administration. At that time, the construction of five drilling rigs was approved, which has since been reduced to three by the Biden administration. But that in no way prevents the company from continuing to pursue its plan. This is also how around 90 percent of the targeted oil reserves can be extracted.
What effects does it bring?
Like most oil drilling, the Willow project can be very damaging to the climate and the environment. A whopping 9.2 million tons of CO₂ could be produced by the newly mined oil, which corresponds to the annual CO₂ emissions of two million cars with combustion engines. This is what calculations by the US government have shown. In addition, oil drilling releases dangerous gases and endangers and partially destroys the habitat of people and animals. Nevertheless, US President Joe Biden gave his approval for the Willow project on March 13th.
Why is the project still being implemented?
In general, the USA wants to become more independent of foreign oil imports. At the same time, it is also hoped that the local economy will be stimulated, which is one reason for the project to be implemented. But it will still be years before the oil from the Willow project reaches the market because the project has to get started first.
In addition to economic, there are also legal reasons for the implementation. The company ConocoPhillips has valid leases in the area. If the government had rejected the Willow project, it would likely have faced fines and legal consequences.
President Biden, in turn, is breaking an important election promise with the project. Before the election, he promised not to allow new oil and gas development on public lands. He initially implemented this announcement as part of an early implementation decree.
But in 2021, the drilling ban was lifted by a federal judge. Since then, the Biden administration has opened several areas for new oil drilling. Many of these projects have been challenged in court by environmental groups. In any case, Biden's promise to make the USA climate neutral by 2050 is becoming a long way off with the new drilling permits.
Why is this project so heavily criticized?
The “Willow Project” will release around 280 million tons of greenhouse gases in northern Alaska over the next 30 years. A heavy burden on the climate. For comparison: That's roughly as if there were around two million more cars in the USA in the same period.
How does the population react?
Large parts of the indigenous population of Alaska and especially climate and environmental protection groups have now called for resistance and are planning legal action against the oil drilling. This will delay the start of the project at least by up to a year. Millions of people have also written letters to President Biden. There is also a petition on change.org that has already collected over 4.5 million signatures.
If the Willow project were to be implemented anyway, it would have massive consequences for the climate, environment and population.
Source: Moment , DasDing
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