On February 1, the Bureau of Land Management released a final (EIS) for ConocoPhillips’s Willow project in northern Alaska. Recommending the Biden administration proceed with permitting, the EIS finds the project will release at least 287 million tons of carbon dioxide over a 30-year period. That鈥檚 more than double the 129 million tons of carbon pollution the administration hopes to save through renewable energy development on public lands.
鈥淣o other oil and gas project has greater potential to undermine the Biden administration鈥檚 climate goals,鈥 Karlin Itchoak, Alaska senior regional director at , said in a press release.
In 2021, President Biden announced an ambitious new target to achieve a reduction in nationwide net greenhouse gas pollution by 2030, from 2005 levels. This included plans to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy, and 25 gigawatts of solar, onshore wind, and geothermal energy on public lands, which together, the administration estimates, will save 129 million metric tons of carbon pollution.
If approved, Willow project is expected to produce 600 million barrels of oil over a 30-year period, resulting in 287 million tons of carbon emissions, plus other greenhouse gases, according to the 聽(CAP). Those emissions will negate any emissions reductions created by Biden鈥檚 plans to expand renewable energy on public lands.
鈥淭he Willow project is almost laughably incompatible with the climate goals and international obligations made by the Biden administration,鈥 read a CAP story.
ConocoPhillips鈥檚 proposal calls for 250 wells, 37 miles of roads, 386 miles of pipelines, airstrips, and a new central processing facility to be constructed in a remote area of northwest Alaska.
And that鈥檚 just the start. In a June 2021 investor meeting, officials at ConocoPhillips the company had 鈥渋dentified up to 3 billion BOEs [barrels of oil equivalent] of nearby prospects and leads with similar characteristics that could leverage the Willow infrastructure鈥Willow] unlocks the West.鈥
The arctic is warming at the rate of lower latitudes. In addition to causing villages to flood and food sources to dry up, that鈥檚 also melting the permafrost that lies under the tundra鈥檚 surface, threatening infrastructure. ConocoPhillips鈥 plan calls for the construction of ground chillers along with the rest of Willow鈥檚 wells and pipelines to provide a safe foundation for that equipment as climate change continues to worsen.
According to Sovereign I帽upiat for a Living Arctic, permitting Willow would “lock us into extraction for another 30 years and could potentially be the catalyst for future oil expansion in the Arctic.鈥
The organization also noted that Native Village of Nuiqsut, the closest community to the project, had its request for an extended public comment period denied by BLM without explanation. 鈥淭his is unacceptable treatment of Indigenous people, who are left to contend with the environmental consequences and chronic health impacts of long-term exposure to extraction pollutants,鈥 said a Sovereign I帽upiat for a Living Arctic release.
EIS completed, the Biden administration could give ConocoPhillips the final green light in as little as 30 days. No further public comment period is planned.
鈥淭his is the exact opposite of what the Biden administration stands for and the opposite of what Alaskans and this country need,鈥 Arizona democratic representative Ra煤l M. Grijalva, who opposes the plan, told 国产吃瓜黑料.