Opinion: The Willow Project will harm the earth

There is no need to drill for more oil with the advancing technology we have. Solar power can be used as a form of energy rather than oil, and has significantly dropped in price over the past decade. Another form of energy that could be used is wind energy, which has a technical potential of more energy than the current global production of electricity.

Yet, the Willow project was approved by President Joe Biden on March 13, allowing ConocoPhillips, the biggest oil drilling company in Alaska, to start their oil drilling plan in Alaska. This decision will be detrimental to the earth’s environment and attempts at managing climate change worldwide.

ConocoPhillips produced 197 thousand barrels of crude oil per day in 2021. The land affected by Willow was acquired in 1999 by ConocoPhillips, and the discovery of oil there was made in 2016. Since then, plans have been made to excavate the oil.

Advocates for the Willow project argue that the oil drilling project would create jobs, in fact 2500 jobs, 300 of them permanent. It would also produce anywhere from $7-$17 billion for the federal government. However, it also would emit a total of 277 million metric tons of CO2 world wide.

This number also doesn’t account for the emissions used in the actual drilling itself. The project will require a new 98 megawatt natural gas fired power plant and dozens of truck trips per hour while the project is being worked on. 

Because of the level of carbon emission, this project should be stopped. The use of this oil would slow down the world’s transition from the use of fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, furthering earth’s declining climate. It will also negatively affect the native people in Alaska. 

Already, two Alaskan Native villages are being forced to relocate because of sea level rising, avalanches, and floods, with the government giving them $25 million to help their efforts of relocation. Additional emission in this area and around the globe will only worsen the position these people are in. 

In the village of Nuiqat, one of the closest to the drilling at Willow, there has already been an increase in one to 75 people treated for respiratory illnesses over the time span of 1986-2000. This increase is most likely from the increased pollution over the years. This drilling will only worsen the health of those living in this area. 

This same village will also be at risk to lose valuable food resources as the oil project disrupts the native species of this Alaskan region. The Nuiquat people rely on Caribou that often migrate through Willow. This project could kill off or change migration patterns of these animals and greatly hurt the livelihood of those in the village.

Plenty of other animals are at risk as well. Many oil barges for the project will pass through the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area home to millions of birds, some at risk; caribou; and polar bears, a vulnerable species. The Colville River, a place with millions of fish, where caribou, wolves, and falcons live, will also be affected. 

Nagruk Harcharek, a leader of the Arctic Iñupiat, has publicly announced their tribe’s support for the Willow project, stating it would stimulate the economy in the region they reside. However, there are other ways to stimulate the economy in Alaska like creating jobs that work on a renewable energy source.

The constant oil drilling will continue to harm the environment, killing off species, and destroying the ozone layer. We need to put a stop to climate change world wide for the future of our earth and next generations to flourish.