In advance of the close of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) comment period for ConocoPhillips’ Willow Master Development Project, Evergreen Action Chief of Staff Lena Moffitt released the following statement: 

“ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project would sell out Arctic communities to line the pockets of Big Oil. The Biden administration has just helped to secure investments that will supercharge America’s transition to clean energy — signing off on the Willow Project would fly in the face of their efforts at a moment when we need to be making the most of the historic momentum for climate action. As the largest oil extraction project currently proposed on federal lands, the Willow Project would pump out hundreds of millions of metric tons of pollution into the atmosphere over its lifetime—equaling the annual greenhouse gas pollution expelled by a minimum of 74 coal-fired power plants. This project would chain the U.S. to at least 30 more years of non-negotiable fossil fuel extraction, and move President Biden further away from his climate goals. We cannot continue down this road. 

“The Willow Project would not only exacerbate the worst impacts of climate change in the long-term, but it would directly harm communities that have long lived in and effectively stewarded this region. Native Alaskans communities in the Arctic are already facing years of black-carbon pollution expelled by ongoing oil and gas activity, which residents have pointed to as contributing to a rise in respiratory illnesses. These communities also face the mounting impacts of the climate crisis, which is warming the Arctic at a pace four times that of the rest of the planet. 

“President Biden must see the Willow Project for what it really is: a dangerous cash grab by Big Oil at the expense of people and the planet. The Biden administration must continue with their bold leadership on climate and put an end to ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project once and for all."

Evergreen previously examined how ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project is a disaster-in-the-making for the climate, environmental justice, and the ecology of the Arctic. You can read the full analysis here.