Approving climate-bomb Willow is not an acceptable option
Two young Arctic fox stay close together on the hill outside their tundra den
Lisa Hupp/USFWS
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA (March 10, 2023) – Citing two anonymous sources, Bloomberg Government reported just after 5 p.m. Eastern time today that the Biden administration intends to release a record of decision next week approving ConocoPhillips’ plan for the Willow project, a huge oil-development project in the Western Arctic that is estimated to release more than 280 million metric tons of greenhouse gases over a 30-year period.
Following a viral #StopWillow campaign on social media that has engaged more than 600 million people over the past two weeks and generated more than 5 million new comments to the administration urging it to block the oil-drilling project, approval of Willow would outrage more than half a billion people who call the proposal a climate bomb and recognize that it would severely undermine President Biden’s climate goals. Additionally, it would harm air quality and negatively impact subsistence resources for Indigenous communities in the region.
In response to the Bloomberg story, The Wilderness Society released the following statement from Alaska Senior Regional Director Karlin Itchoak:
“We sincerely hope the unnamed sources are wrong when they claim Willow could be approved with up to three drill pads next week. It would be a terrible, science-denying move to allow this project to move forward, given how harmful it would be to local communities and the global climate.
“Let us be clear: Willow has not yet been approved, and it is not an acceptable project. The Biden administration must do the right thing and choose a no-action alternative in a record of decision to kill this destructive proposal.”
