What is the Willow Project and what are the intentions of this now infamous escapade? Within the past two months, the Willow Project has spread across the minds of environmentalists everywhere because of its controversial undertones.

The Willow Project, which was originally introduced in 2017, is a project with the intent to drill petroleum stored on the Alaskan North Slope. The project would produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day. As a result, more than 278 million tons of greenhouse gas would be introduced into the atmosphere in just 30 years.

According to CBC news, the amount of greenhouse gasses produced from the project in this 30 year span is equal to the amount of gas that a million passenger cars produce over the same amount of time.

Since the Biden Administration has approved the project, many Democrats in Congress are pointing out that the project is out of step with Biden’s past goals to move to clean energy and to cut planet warming carbon emissions in half by 2030.

As for Alaskans themselves, opinions on the project are split. Some are in major approval for Willow saying it will create an “Economic Lifeline” for Alaska, while others state just how harmful this project could be.

In a letter from leaders of the Nuiqsut community addressed to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the tribe claimed that this would further contribute to climate change, endangering the animals of Alaska and their migration process across once frozen areas. The Nuiqsut leaders also stated that “No dollar amount can replace what we risk … it is a matter of our survival.”- from the Associated Press

As a result of the approval of this escapade, projects such as stopwillow.org and #StopWillow have been made in order to call on Biden to block Willow. No matter the respected stance on the project, it is imperative that we as American citizens take into consideration just how environmentally detrimental this project could be.