WHAT'S GOING ON? | THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION HAS MOVED CLOSER TO APPROVING CONOCOPHILLIPS' WILLOW PROJECT IN AMERICA'S ARCTIC
Willow is an $8 billion oil and gas project currently being considered by the US Department of the Interior. The environmental review says Willow would open up an estimated 629 million barrels of oil, and produce up to 287 million metric tons of CO2 over the next 30 years -equivalent to the annual emissions of 76+ coal fired power plants.ConocoPhillips has told investors that approving Willow stands to open up 3billionbarrels of oil previously inaccessible to the industry -more than five times the estimate used to evaluate Willow's environmental impact.
WHO IS DOING IT? | PRESIDENT BIDEN AND INTERIOR SECRETARY HAALAND
Willow was first advanced by the Trump Administration , but later blocked by a federal judge due to insufficient environmental review. However, the Biden Administration is now moving it forward, despite commitments to make climate action a key priority, and despite objections from Iñupiat tribal leaders about the review process and their ability to raise concerns and ask questions.
WHY DOES IT MATTER? | AMERICA'S ARCTIC IS VITAL TO INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, ICONIC WILDLIFE, AND GLOBAL CLIMATE MITIGATION
The Arctic is already warming four times faster than the rest of the planet. A healthy Arctic stabilizes the jet stream, reducing extreme weather events like the 2022 blizzards and ice storms. It's an enormous carbon sink for the entire planet, mitigating the worst impacts of climate change all around the globe. It is the ancestral homeland of Indigenous Peoples who depend upon access to clean water and unpolluted resources for traditional livelihoods and food security. And it is vital habitat for American wildlife like polar bears, bowhead whales, caribou, and wolves.