Tell the President to Stop the Willow Project Before It Spoils the Arctic Forever

From PennEnvironment (http://www.pennenvironment.org):

The Biden administration just moved the Willow Project another step forward — a massive oil drilling project proposed by ConocoPhillips, Alaska’s largest oil producer.¹

If approved, the project will do irreparable damage to the frozen, fragile ecosystem of Alaska’s North Slope. The final decision is expected by the end of the month — but it’s not too late to prevent the Willow Project from ever being built.

Go to https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=53495 to tell the Biden administration: Stop the Willow Project before it spoils the Arctic forever.

On the far northern coast of Alaska lies Teshekpuk Lake, the calving ground for the Teshekpuk caribou herd. The tundra here teems with life — caribou, polar bears, migratory birds and more.

The Willow Project would disrupt this delicately balanced ecosystem with the construction of drill sites, bridges, an airstrip, hundreds of miles of roads and a gravel mine.²

It would be a loss for the majestic caribou, polar bears and more that call this region home.

It would be a loss for our climate. The Arctic is already warming faster than anywhere else on the planet, and the Willow Project would be a carbon bomb.³ Over the 30 years it’s expected to operate, the project would produce 600 million barrels of oil — the equivalent of 76 new coal-fired power plants — further fueling climate disaster.^4,5

It would be a loss for the local community of Nuiqsut, too, bringing development to this wild landscape as well as the danger of leaks and spills.

Simply put, the Willow Project is a lose-lose-lose scenario.

Add your name to our petition to the Biden administration today.

Last month, we celebrated a series of campaign wins when the Biden administration announced stronger protections for the Boundary Waters in Minnesota and the Tongass National Forest and Bristol Bay in Alaska.

Approving the Willow Project now just makes no sense — especially not when it runs counter to President Biden’s commitment to protecting 30% of our country’s land and water by 2030.⁶

Together, we can stand against senseless oil drilling in the Arctic. With less than 15 days to convince the Biden administration to stop the Willow Project, will you add your name to our petition today?

1. Lisa Friedman, “Biden Clears the Way for Alaska Oil Project,” The New York Times, February 1, 2023.
2. Ellen Montgomery and Dyani Chapman, “Statement: Biden administration moves Western Arctic Willow project forward,” Environment America, February 1, 2023.
3. Jonathan Bamber, “The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the world,” PBS News Hour, August 15, 2022.
4. Lisa Friedman, “Biden Clears the Way for Alaska Oil Project,” The New York Times, February 1, 2023.
5. Maxine Joselow, “Is a major Alaska oil project a ‘carbon bomb’ or a nothingburger?,” The Washington Post, August 9, 2022.
6. “FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Celebrates Expansion of Locally-Led Conservation Efforts in First Year of “America the Beautiful” Initiative,” The White House, December 20, 2021.