Protect Alaskan Wildlands from Ravages of Oil Drilling

Target: President Biden

Goal: Do not approve increased oil drilling in sensitive Alaska ecosystem.

Before leaving office, the Trump administration pushed forward with the Willow Project, a continuation of Arctic oil explorations in Alaska. The $6 billion project would bring increased drilling infrastructure to the largest block of public land in the US, a pristine area of tundra and wetlands.

Despite the pledges of substantial action on climate change from the Biden administration, it has been defending the Willow Project in court. The administration is currently conducting an environmental review of the project and will soon reach a conclusion on whether to allow the drilling to go ahead.

If the project continues, it will be the “single biggest oil and gas proposal on federal lands,” as Kristen Miller, conservation director of the Alaska Wilderness League told the Washington Post. Miller continued to say, “it’s just a massive carbon threat, a massive development project in an area that’s already being ravaged by climate change.” Worse still, the project could potentially uncover 3 billion barrels of oil, a staggering number much higher than the 586 million barrel estimate used by the Bureau of Land Management to determine the environmental impacts of the project. This means the review may not reveal an accurate picture of the damage done to our climate. Even the Kuukpik Corporation, founded when Nuiqsut was first settled 50 years ago and previously supportive of oil projects in the area, has stated serious concerns. The company is concerned over drill pad locations near to the Teshekpuk Lake – the largest Arctic lake and an ecologically sensitive area. The company also harbors concerns over the new roads which would connect the drill pads, which would “require at least 3 million one-way vehicle trips — about 270 a day for 30 years,” as reported by the Washington Post.

High energy prices are increasing the burden in the United States but doubling down on extracting fossil fuels and worsening our climate crisis will only create further problems. The Biden administration should address skyrocketing energy costs caused by our dependence on oil, but drilling for more fossil fuels is not the solution. Sign to call on Biden to keep his word and take significant action on climate change.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear President Biden,

Climate change isn’t only a far off crisis future generations will have to contend with, we are already experiencing its impacts today. Throughout your campaign you pledged to take significant and necessary actions to combat the climate crisis; opening the Arctic for further oil drilling is in direct opposition of this pledge. While it is important to address skyrocketing US energy costs, the real answer is to invest in renewable energy rather than fossil fuels that wreak havoc on the planet.

The proposed Willow Project would be the “single biggest oil and gas proposal on federal lands” and is projected to generate many more barrels of oil than the environmental review accounted for. The impacts of the project would be devastating. You must do everything in your power to block the Willow Project from continuing and to protect the pristine and fragile Arctic lands this project threatens.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Backbone Campaign