Carly Intrabartolo '25
The Willow Project is an oil drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope in the National Petroleum Reserve, which is owned by the federal government. This project was proposed by Conocophillips, an American multinational corporation, and originally was approved by the Trump administration in 2020.
The Willow Project could create 180,000 barrels of oil per day, 600 million over the project's lifetime, and could create as many as 2,500 construction jobs and 300 jobs near the village of Nuiqsut on Alaska's North Slope, according to Conocophillips.
Some Alaska Natives living near the planned project, including city officials and tribal members in the Native village of Nuiqsut, are concerned about the health and environmental impacts of the major oil development.
Now that the Biden administration has given the Willow project the green light, construction can begin. However, it is unclear exactly when that will happen, in large part due to impending legal problems secondary to environmental concerns. “We and our clients don’t see any acceptable version of this project, we think the [environmental impact] analysis is unlawful,” Jeremy Lieb, an Alaska-based senior attorney for Earthjustice, previously told CNN.
Many Americans support the Willow Project, as well as some Alaska Native groups on the North Slope, saying it could be a much-needed new source of revenue for the region and fund services including education and health care. However others also believe it will just lead to carbon pollution and destroy resources on Alaska's public lands.
Although the Biden administration has approved the Willow Project, several of the new oil and gas drilling areas continue to be challenged in court by environmental groups.
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