Column: A Deep Dive into The Willow Project

Graphic by: Laura Menchaca

“I went up in a helicopter in the North Slope and saw what was going on, and saw what was happening as the glaciers began to melt, and how the caribou and everyone, I mean, there’s a lot going up there, and it’s a real gigantic problem, and by the way, no more drilling on federal lands period period period,” said Joe Biden during his Presidency campaign back in 2020. It is hard to accept that Joe Biden has failed to keep his promise to our nation since his vision gave us hope after Trump’s failed presidency. Many citizens have been informed of the federal project known as “The Willow Project.” The Willow project is the biggest oil drilling 8 billion dollar proposal by ConocoPhillips (U.S gas and oil company divided among six sectors of the globe); it would be located in a petroleum reserve in undisturbed federal land in the United States 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle. This reserve is said to potentially hold 600 million barrels of oil in the next 30 years. 

Knowing the promise made by Biden is being broken through the development of this project, the Biden administration has not given concrete in-depth information as to why the cessation of the project was terminated completely. The public only knows that The Willow Project was a difficult and complex issue inherited from earlier administrations, such as Trump’s. Based on my understanding, the explanation for the Biden Administration approving a manner that goes against everything they believe in is beyond the control of the political efforts democrats have shed tears, sweat, and blood for. Of course, the premise on which we all stand, and have stood for centuries, and what controls every aspect of the world came into the playmaking of this decision. Money. Lawsuits. Power. Intense pressure from years of work from the ConocoPhillips corporation, republican Alaskan senators, and even some democratic house members left Biden no choice but to abide by The Willow Project. If the Biden administration had rejected The Willow Project, the government would have faced a $5 billion lawsuit from ConocoPhillips since they have held leases to the prospective sites for more than two decades. Josh Leshy, who served as The Interior Department’s solicitor under Bill Clinton’s presidency, helped me form my conclusion on Biden’s involvement. He said, “The lease does not give Conoco the right to do whatever they want, but it does convey certain rights, So the administration has to take that into account. I would say their hands were tied, but their options were limited by the lease rights.”. 

To minimize criticism and backlash, the administration correctly presumed, the Biden administration forced their conditions; however, they did not suffice protestors. When the Trump administration was in place, they approved five drilling sites, and Biden could reduce them to three. In addition, they will place new protections for a nearby coastal wetland, forming a “protective barrier” that would prevent the Willow project from expanding. More placements were set to protect the peace of the arctic, as Biden ensured that 2.8 million acres of the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean near shore where the Willow Project will take place, are under no circumstance permitted to the leasing of future oil and gas projects. The Interior Department also plans to block oil and gas leases on more than 13 million of the 23 million acres of the petroleum reserve. On top of that, The Willow Project is said to create 2,500 jobs and generate as much as $17 billion in government revenue. According to the Biden administration, the President is continuing his deliverance of the most aggressive protective agenda to deter the advancement of climate change. 

I believe the Biden administration should make more vigorous efforts to prove their reasoning and strategy behind their approval of the Willow Project and why they think it will not significantly contribute to the climate crisis, including the hope that gas prices will be lowered.