What is the Willow Project?

On March 13th 2023, the Biden Administration approved the Willow Project. The Willow Project is going to allow for ConocoPhillips to establish multiple oil drilling rigs in Alaska.

This agreement will last for 30 years. Over these 30 years, it is projected to release 263 million tons of greenhouse gasses. This is equivalent to adding 1.7 million cars to the planet.

The additional greenhouse gasses will have detrimental effects on the Arctic.

The Willow Project is estimated to produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day. This is about 1.5% of total U.S. oil production. This is the largest project that has been proposed for oil drilling on U.S. land. This will also be the largest oil production in Alaska.

There will be protective measures taken for the environment, but the extent of these is not fully known yet. The administration claimed that 16 million acres of Alaskan land will be protected from future drilling, but the Willow Project is still releasing an extremely high amount of fossil fuels.