The Willow Project

Recently, President Biden has been promoting this new project called Willow. The Willow Project is essentially an oil drilling venture in Alaska. It is allegedly going to create more energy and jobs for the world. They are supposed to manufacture 18,000 barrels of oil per day. The total project cost is about $8 million. There will be estimated to be 2,000 starting jobs and 300 permanent jobs during the decade-long project. 950 jobs will go to people already living in Alaska. 

The Willow Project is a very controversial topic today. Many people believe it will hurt us rather than help us. The Willow Project is projected to dump 2 million tons of carbon pollution per year. This will undoubtably speed up the global warming process and create more issues with our atmosphere. Gas leaks may also cause issues in the environment. The animals in the area will be most affected, creating an environment with harsher conditions for the animals. The infamous polar bears will be most affected by the project. The loud explosions and work being done could scare the bears and result in the death of the bear. Studies show that a polar bear mother would rather die than leave her den with her cubs. Cheyenne Goggins says, “I hope they will realize what they are doing to our enviroment and our animals before it’s too late.” Though the government says the polar bears won’t be affected by the oil drilling, we have yet to see. 

The Willow Project is slightly against Bidens beliefs and against the promises he made when going into office. He was very involved in climate change and made promises to change the current course of global warming. Yet, the Willow Project is offered anyway, which could be very harmful to the environment and very well could make global warming an irreversible issue. The decision that Biden makes could very well affect the way he is viewed in the country. The likelihood of environmentalists voting for President Biden if he ran for president again is extremely low if he approves the project.  

Many people have been creating petitions for the project to be cancelled. Many people on TikTok have tried to make petitions in their bios and encourage people to stop the project. Certain people disagree with the petitions claiming that the petitions must be government made so it is more official. They are recommending letters and calling state representatives. Abby Peppers says, “I have signed 3 petitions and I hope I can make a difference.” So far, no changes have been made from the petitions but there are a few weeks left before Biden makes a decision.