Alaska oil drilling: Willow project critics go viral with petition pressuring Biden

Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY
·4 min read
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The Biden administration is preparing to decide whether to allow the Willow oil drilling project in Alaska to begin, and a social media fueled opposition campaign has gathered widespread attention in recent days.

Environmental groups are urging Biden to stick to his campaign promise to ban new drilling on federal lands, and promising to sue if he doesn't. They say the project will contribute to climate change and alter wildlife migration and habitat for polar bears, caribou and other species.

In February, federal officials gave near-final approval to the project, which Biden could still halt.

Meanwhile, opposition has been growing. A petition on change.org has millions of signatures, becoming one of the most popular in the company's history.

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Here's what to know:

What is the Willow project?

Oil company ConocoPhillips wants to drill around 200 wells on Alaska's North Slope near the Native village of Utqiagvik, formerly known as Barrow.

  • Location: The project would be within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, an approximately 23-million-acre area on the Beaufort Sea, about 200 miles west of the existing oilfields at Prudhoe Bay.

  • Scope: It would be the largest new oil and gas development in Alaska in 20 years, with workers drilling hundreds of new wells, building new roads and bridges, and erecting pipelines to extract the 600 million barrel oilfield.

  • Status: The project received final approval from President Donald Trump's administration a week before Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, but has been on hold since a federal judge in 2021 raised questions about environmental planning.

  • What's next? Biden could halt the project. But federal officials in February 2023 re-issued the necessary environmental permission.

Alaska officials widely support the project, which would bring an estimated 1,000 construction jobs and 400 permanent jobs, while also ensuring the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System keeps operating. Oil revenues provide about 1/3 of the state's annual budget, and allow the state to provide an annual dividend to residents, set at $3,284 last year.

Some of the Alaska Native people who live in the area support the project because it would mean a significant financial boost to their small communities.

This 2019 aerial photo provided by ConocoPhillips shows an exploratory drilling camp at the proposed site of the Willow oil project on Alaska's North Slope.
This 2019 aerial photo provided by ConocoPhillips shows an exploratory drilling camp at the proposed site of the Willow oil project on Alaska's North Slope.

What is #StopWillow? Petition gets millions of signatures

Gaining strength on the youth-focused TikTok social media app, the #StopWillow campaign has garnered more than 50 million views and counting, and has trended in the top 10 topics on TikTok. Project opponents say Willow will improperly prolong the country's use of fossil fuels while contributing to climate change and pollution in communities far from the drilling sites.

A petition on change.org had more than 3 million signatures by Wednesday, making it the third most-signed petition in the company's history, it said.

“It’s just so blatantly bad for the planet,” said Hazel Thayer, a climate activist who posted TikTok videos using the #StopWillow hashtag.

“With all of the progress that the U.S. government has made on climate change, it now feels like they’re turning their backs by allowing Willow to go through,” Thayer said. “I think a lot of young people are feeling a little bit betrayed by that.”

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In a statement, Earthjustice attorney Jeremy Lieb said approving Willow would be "out of step" for Biden's efforts to fight climate change. Earthjustice has previously sued to block the project, and plans to continue opposing it if Biden goes ahead.

While some Alaska Native communities support the project, others fear it will harm their communities due to impacts like climate change, which are contributing to rising sea levels.

"Biden will be remembered for what he did to tackle the climate crisis, and as things stand today, it’s not too late for him to step up and pull the plug on this carbon bomb," Lieb said.

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Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alaska oil drilling: Willow project critics go viral with petition