President Joe Biden will shortly decide whether to approve the controversial oil drilling project in the far north of Alaska. An announcement is expected in a few days, according to several American media, including the Washington Post. The project could create thousands of jobs, but has met with massive opposition. Not just in the US, but worldwide. The hashtag #StopWillow is now one of the biggest trends on TikTok, with 154 million views on the app. “We have to stop this before it gets out of control”, “Biden, you said you were going to protect the earth as long as you were president?”, are some of the messages. Over 3 million people have so far signed one of the largest campaigns against the project, and one million letters have been sent to the White House, according to US media. The pressure on social media has increased to get Joe Biden to scrap the plans for oil extraction on the North Slope in Alaska. Photo: APPressure on social media has increased to get Joe Biden to scrap the plans for oil extraction on the North Slope in Alaska. Photo: AP – Totally sick The Willow project has been going through an approval process for several months, while online activism has grown. The oil company ConocoPhillips proposes five drilling sites on land and estimates that they will be able to produce 180,000 barrels of oil every day. The plant alone will have an annual emission equivalent to 75 per cent of the emissions from Norwegian oil and gas operations. The main message of the critics is that the approval of Willow goes against Biden’s promises to make the US a climate-leading nation when it re-entered the Paris Agreement. Climate advisor Aled Dilwyn Fisher of the Norwegian Nature Conservation Association believes that Biden is also breaking his promise to ban new projects on federal land and in federal waterways. The Willow project is on such public land. – It is absolutely sick that the US is going ahead with this, he says. Wetland in the area outside Nuiqsut in Alaska in the USA. The Willow project will produce over 600 million barrels of oil over 30 years and release around 278 million tonnes of carbon, according to the authorities themselves. Photo: Bureau of Land Management / Flickr Wetland in the area outside Nuiqsut in Alaska in the USA. The Willow project will produce over 600 million barrels of oil over 30 years and release around 278 million tonnes of carbon, according to the authorities themselves. Photo: Bureau of Land Management / Flickr – A historic betrayal In addition to large emissions, critics fear that the project will threaten the rights and living conditions of indigenous peoples, and affect an already vulnerable nature with red-listed species in the Western Arctic. Proponents of the Willow project argue that it will create thousands of jobs and generate income for local Alaskans. – That Biden approves such a project is a historic betrayal. There is no project and no money in the world that is worth destroying the climate, says Fisher. Aled Dilwyn Fisher, climate advisor at the Norwegian Nature Conservancy. It is an “extremely bad political signal” to send out to the world that the US is not adjusting to follow up on the climate agreement, he believes. – Some countries will sit and say: “Look, the USA is not changing, why should we?” Cases like this make it more important that oil-producing countries such as Norway take the lead and show that it is possible to adapt and achieve the climate goals, says Fisher. The Willow project is receiving fierce criticism, partly because Biden promised that the country would become a climate leader after Trump withdrew the country from the Paris Agreement. The Biden administration itself estimates that the project will emit about 9.2 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, which is the equivalent of driving nearly 2 million gas-powered cars. Photo: KEVIN LAMARQUE / Reuters Threatens the indigenous people The indigenous people have protested outside the White House and sent an open letter about how the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is treating them in the matter. Raena Garcia in Friends of the Earth fears that oil extraction in the area will affect the indigenous population’s quality of life and health, and the availability of traditional industries for West Arctic communities. – Willow will affect birds, fish and reindeer, air, water and land, says Garcia to news. The village of Nuiqsut on the North Slope in Alaska. The Willow project is referred to as a “climate bomb” that threatens the rights of indigenous peoples and nature in the Western Arctic. Photo: Paxson Woelber / Flickr The village of Nuiqsut is the one closest to the planned oil fields, with approximately 400 inhabitants. In the nearby village of Utqiagvik, the town has been inhabited by the Iñupiat people since the year 500. – Willow is a climate disaster for the planet that younger generations in particular cannot afford. The fear of “climate doomsday” is an appropriate response to the fossil fuel industry’s ongoing construction of infrastructure that will guarantee decades of future emissions. That will put public health and the climate at risk, Garcia believes. Reindeer outside Nuiqsut. Photo: Bureau of Land Management / Flickr Last March there was a gas leak from one of ConocoPhillips’ facilities on the Nordskråningen. It meant that hundreds of workers and tens of families had to be evacuated from the area. It took weeks before the cleaning work was started. Can destroy nature In addition to pumping oil, large areas of infrastructure will be developed that can affect fish, birds and animals on land in the Western Arctic. The project’s plans include 250 wells, 621 kilometers of pipelines, 60 kilometers of roads, airstrips and a processing plant to be built in the reserve, according to US media. Fisher fears that problems such as oil spills and leaks will have catastrophic consequences for already vulnerable ecosystems. – Climate change in the Arctic is happening much faster than in the rest of the world, so it is a kind of irony, climate change is already making life in the Arctic more difficult, and then oil and gas projects come in that make life worse. The Trans-Alaska oil pipeline crosses all of Alaska from north to south, and all the way to the North Slope. Photo: Arthur T. LaBar / Flickr Massive resistance worldwide The algorithms on TikTok highlight the critical statements about the oil project. – The commitment does not come from environmental protection groups, says Elise Joshi (20) from California, who posted one of the first videos about Willow in February. She is a student and head of Gen-Z for Change in the US, and helped start the trend to stop Biden from endorsing the project. – It is incredible that this is getting so much international attention. It is only now that I realize how wide this case has reached. It shows that Biden has to keep up, because his global reputation is suffering, says Joshi to news. She thinks #StopWillow shows that young people all over the world really care about climate. A lot of fear The videos are often cut with images of endangered animal species such as polar bears and whales, together with sad music. Several of those who post videos about Willow talk about strong feelings of fear. Joshi hopes they manage to keep their tongues in their mouths and not let fear get the better of them. – I quickly noticed that people began to believe that if Willow is approved, then it is doomsday. I get it, the algorithms highlight that kind of content. But what we must be aware of is that Willow is not the only struggle. It is not finished if Willow is approved, Joshi emphasizes to news. Expect large demonstrations If Biden gives the thumbs up to the Willow project, it could trigger large demonstrations, believes Fisher in the Nature Conservation Association. – I think there will be large demonstrations and protests, as there have always been. Indigenous people are going to react strongly. I can well imagine that there will be a lawsuit. One can hope that the courts will clear things up, but we know ourselves from Norway and climate lawsuits that it takes a very long time, he says. Biden could scrap the entire project, but there are not high hopes for that to happen, according to Fisher. – What happens afterwards can lead to greater pressure where people realize how disastrous this project can be. A frozen wetland outside Nuiqsut, Alaska. Photo: Bureau of Land Management/Flickr
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– A historic betrayal – news – Klima
