These new findings mirror – and strengthen – the conclusions of the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) landmark Net Zero by 2050 report, which said that there’s no need for investment in new fossil fuel supply in their net-zero pathway. At the same time, this new IISD report and the IEA’s 2022 World Energy Outlook call for a transformational scale-up of clean energy, including the deployment of solar and wind capacity.
As Big Oil rakes in soaring profits, the Biden administration has a responsibility to focus on transitioning to homegrown, clean energy alternatives – and break our dependence on fossil fuel projects like Willow that only fuel climate disaster.
ConocoPhillips’ March gas leakage shows the Willow Project is a real threat to communities and climate.
Developing new oil projects in Alaska’s Arctic is a climate disaster and an environmental injustice – and already, at least one uncontrolled gas leak has happened on ConocoPhillips’ watch this year.
Back in March, a gas leak started at one of ConocoPhillips’ pre-existing facilities, eight miles north of the Alaska Native Village of Nuiqsut.
Over the first five days of the leak, it spewed approximately 7.2 million cubic feet of natural gas into the atmosphere. That’s roughly the annual carbon emissions of over 3,000 cars. And it took almost a month for the leak to be completely plugged. Some residents of the nearby village of Nuiqsut experienced headaches, breathing problems, and nausea – and raised their voices to fight back. This isn’t the first time communities like Nuiqsut have been harmed by oil extraction – and it likely won’t be the last if drilling continues. (You can read more about this incident in recent articles published in Grist and The Washington Post.)
Here’s where it gets even more twisted. Thawing permafrost played a key role in the gas leak. When ConocoPhillips submitted an incident report to the state, it outlined how the heat created by the injection of drilling fluids underground thawed the permafrost layer and brought gas to the surface. Around 50 neighboring wells on the same pad also experienced this thawing process, too.
You read that right: ConocoPhillips admitted that thawing permafrost (caused directly and indirectly by drilling) played a role in the gas leak. And remember when we said the Arctic was already warming four times faster than the rest of the world?
Concerningly, BLM’s draft supplemental environmental impact statement did not adequately analyze the risk of future gas leaks and the impacts this leak event had on neighboring communities, as pointed out in a recent blog by Center for American Progress.
Campaign Update
On January 10, 2023 Evergreen and our movement partners delivered over 100,000 signatures to the White House (including almost 25,000 from Evergreen supporters), urging President Biden to reject the Willow Project. That’s incredible—and shows the power of this movement against fossil fuel giants like ConocoPhillips.