by Luke Shevchik

Sophmore Katie Shea. Photo by: Luke Shevchik

The Willow Project has created controversy across the United States.  

“I’m really sad about it, our wildlife should come first,” sophomore Katie Shea said. “The oil doesn’t matter if our world is dying.”  

The Willow Project is a plan proposed by ConocoPhillips (Alaska’s largest crude oil producer) that would venture into oil drilling on the North slope of Alaska in the National Petroleum Reserve, as explained by Yahoo news. 

It’s up to President Biden and his administration to approve the drilling, which has lit a fire of controversy from environmentalists, according to Yahoo news. Drilling would release more than 280 tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere making the global temperatures increase dramatically, but would also increase the U.S income and oil supply.  

Rising temperatures would cause extreme climate change, causing lots of wildlife to struggle, especially in the tundra and polar regions. People would also be affected by global warming with the most impact going on the culture of Alaskan people, as stated on nrp.org.  

As mentioned on nrp.org, approving the project would help gas prices decline and increasing oil production would skyrocket income in the U.S.  

Sophmore Azreal Franklin. Photo by: Luke Shevchik

“I’m disappointed and frustrated,” sophomore Azzy Franklin said. “It’s so ridiculous that they care more about the money and not the environment.” 

In one day, 200,000 barrels of oil will be produced. Over time, this will generate $17 billion in revenue for the oil companies, according to newyorker.com. A lot of oil would be shipped overseas to benefit other countries as well 

In the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden stated that he was going to stop new oil drillings on federal land. Approving the Willow Project would mean Biden would be contradicting himself as explained on newyorker.com 

“If they pass the Willow Project it would be a huge let down for American citizens,” issues and environment ecology teacher Mr. Angelo Testa said. “The Biden administration would be lying because they said they wouldn’t do it.”