The proposed northern Alaska oil drilling project, the Willow Project, may soon be pushed forward by the Biden administration, with the approval of three of the five drilling sites by senior administration officials.
The National Petroleum Reserve is the location of the project, which is expected to produce 600 million barrels of oil over the course of 30 years and create thousands of jobs. ConocoPhillips is the company behind the proposal, and to remain economically viable, the federal government would need to approve at least three of the sites.
The Department of Interior will publish the final decision on the Willow Project, with President Biden and senior White House officials overseeing the approval process.
Environmental activists argue that the project would have a devastating impact on the environment, while industry groups, Alaska lawmakers, and local communities believe it would be economically beneficial.
The expected final decision on the Willow Project comes after years of ConocoPhillips first proposing it.
The company has projected that it could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil per day and create over 2,500 construction jobs and 300 long-term jobs, as well as deliver $17 billion in revenue for the federal government, Alaska, and local communities, including those that are Indigenous.
Overall, the project would require constructing up to 250 wells, multiple pipelines, a central processing plant, an airport, and a gravel mine. However, opponents of the project argue that it would damage the environment and produce a total carbon footprint irreconcilable with the Biden administration’s broader climate agenda, estimating that it would produce 278 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of the carbon footprint of two million cars, over its 30-year lifespan.
Environmental groups and climate-focused Democratic lawmakers have urged Biden against handing a favorable decision to the project, saying that it would increase global emissions and counter the progress the administration has made on climate change.
However, Alaskan lawmakers have aggressively advocated for the Biden administration to approve the economically viable project, arguing that it would provide a substantial boost for the state and local communities.
Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Alaska Native groups, and a number of union groups have also voiced their support for the project, believing it will provide thousands of good-paying jobs and help jump-start Alaska’s economy.
