During the month of March, President Biden and his administration are expected to make a decision regarding the Willow Project on Alaska’s North Slope. The Willow Project is a plan derived from the Biden administration that would involve drilling down into Alaska’s Northern Slope to use the petroleum stored within.  It is theorized that this project would be able to produce “180,000 barrels of oil a day, which is around 1.5 per cent of the total U.S. oil production” (Hewitt). If this project would be approved by the Biden administration and other officials, the Willow Project would represent the biggest US oil field in decades. Correspondingly, an Alaskan Republican US Senator Dan Sullivan said in response this to controversial project, that it could “potentially be one of the biggest, most important resource development projects in our state’s history” (Hewitt).

After the Biden administration revealed this project, the majority of Americans disproved of what it could potentially do to the environment of Alaska. According to Evening Standard, “Evidence has shown that the Willow Project would produce the equivalent of more than 278 million tons of greenhouse gases over its 30-year life. This is roughly equal to the combined emissions from two million passenger cars over the same time period” (Hewitt). To add to the other side of the argument, supporters “have called the project balanced and say communities would benefit from taxes generated from the program” as well as to support infrastructure and provide many public services and buildings within the area (Hewitt).

I, personally, do not agree with the Willow Project. I do not believe it would benefit America and other countries enough to risk the climate and environment of Alaska. It is an experimental project that could potentially damage an already warming Alaska. The Willow Project would affect the level of permafrost within the environment of Alaska, which could potentially harm landscapes and local ecosystems of it’s Northern Slope. If the Biden administration would approve the Willow project, it is estimated it could release 278 million metric tons of carbon pollution over a 30-year span (Hewitt).

Hewitt, Sian. “What Is the Willow Project? Controversial Oil Fight Explained.” Evening Standard, 1 Mar. 2023, www.standard.co.uk/news/us-politics/willow-project-controversial-us-oil-explained-joe-biden-alaska-b1063956.html. Accessed 2 Mar. 2023.

4 Reasons the Willow Oil Project Is Unfit for Approval.” Center for American Progress, www.americanprogress.org/article/4-reasons-the-willow-oil-project-is-unfit-for-approval/. Accessed 3 Mar. 2023.