Willow Project Prevention

Nicole Garcia-Pantoja, Staff Writer

The Willow Project, a recent project proposed by ConocoPhillips, puts the planet’s climate as well as its biodiversity at risk of detrimental harm. The project’s irreversible effects will cause a number of issues for our climate.

The Willow Project, also known as the Willow Master Development Plan, is an oil project that’s planning to extract more than 600 million barrels of oil from Alaska. From the Evergreen Action’s website, it’s said that back in 2020 it was approved by the Trump administration. It’s now being decided if the Willow Project should press forward with their plans. The Willow Project was made by the people behind ConocoPhillips. 

Photo via Pixabay under Pixabay License Both oil use and drilling severely impact the environment and harm wildlife.

ConocoPhillips is quite biased with their plan. They say that the Willow Project will create new jobs and generate more fossil fuel energy for America, only focusing on the “benefits.” They are on this high pedestal of how they believe that the benefits will outweigh the negatives. However, this is harmful because it doesn’t reveal the true extent of the Willow Project. 

If the Willow Project proceeds, it will lead to the destruction of our environment and ecosystem for the next 3 decades. Apparently, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) hasn’t taken in account the risks of gas leaks near the area. From the website of American Progress, “This March, a methane gas release occurred at ConocoPhillips’ Alpine Field drilling site, not far from the proposed Willow project, leading to the evacuation of personnel from the site as well as the departure of families from the nearby village of Nuiqsut who feared it was too dangerous to stay.” And yet, the Willow Project has the ready from the Bureau of Land Managements to press onward with its plans.

Not only will the Willow Project hurt the state of climate change, but it will also hurt the wildlife and communities near the plant. Indigenous communities and animals’ precious ecosystems and habitats are already at risk and with the probability of the gas leaks the effects will be detrimental to biodiversity.

Now how can this be stopped?  Signing petitions and calling the government office is the way to go. A petition called Stop Willow Project was signed by 50k people, however, more support is needed since there’s extensive political support and approval for the project. No matter what, don’t stay silent about this matter. 

 

Sign the Petition Here:

https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-willow-project