Climate advocates feeling ecobetrayal following Biden’s Willow authorization

Promises were made and promises were broken; this seems to be the recurring story with every politician. Now the public is experiencing it with President Joe Biden, as he recently signed off on the Willow Project. Willow is a very controversial oil drilling project that was recently put into action on March 13, 2023. This plan allows the energy company ConocoPhillips to drill for oil in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. 

Sophomore Stella Bowden thinks that the incentive behind this project is purely economical.

“It is a project in Alaska that plans on creating a lot more oil each day compared to what we currently have,” she said. “This will help the economy, but do terrible things to our environment.”

Biology teacher Sara Dobish isn’t sure how she feels about the project. She sees the need for change but doesn’t know if it is feasible for this nation.

“I'm conflicted because we need to have less reliance on other countries for oil, but it can harm the environment,” she said. “At the same time, as a country, we aren't ready to move to completely renewable energy, so we still need oil to function.”  

On the other hand, Bowden thinks that this project completely offsets what many people have been working towards. 

“The Willow Project is many steps backward in the climate change movement,” she said. “This project will create a ton of CO2 emissions, which will have many negative effects on our atmosphere.”

Biden’s approval of the Willow Project caused an uproar in the media as voters wereenraged with the president since this project appears to be the opposite of what he campaigned for. Laurence Carlin, dean of the Honors College at UWO, understands why people have an issue with this, and he was also shocked when he heard the news.

“I was surprised,” he said. “Biden has a very pro-environment agenda, but then he turned around and surprised us all by doing oil drilling in Alaska.”

Bowden was also taken aback by the decision to greenlight the Willow Project. Bowden attributes the approval of the controversial oil drilling project to what she perceives as President Biden's hypocrisy. 

“Biden signing this bill was against his promise to do everything in his power to win the Clean Energy Future,” she said.

Although it was surprising, Dobish thinks that there wasn’t a choice in signing off on this project, and it isn’t as black and white as everyone makes it seem.

“Biden didn't really have an option, Conoco already had existing and valid land leases to explore for drilling in Alaska,” she said. “The project was at least reduced from five to three drilling pads.”

Whether it’s three or five drilling pads, Dobish sees this project still having an impact on the environment, but the future remains uncertain.

“We don't really know what the long-term effects will be on the environment,” she said. “It depends on how careful they are with drilling, and if they can prevent accidents from occurring, but anything related to fossil fuel production has an effect on global climate change.”

Carlin thinks that simply saying this project isn’t going to cause harm isn’t enough; he needs explicit facts that prove nothing bad will happen.

“The Biden administration swears that it's not going to affect our environment long term,” he said. “But I want clear, convincing evidence that the Willow project will not harm one of the Earth's wonderful, magnificent treasures, the Alaskan wilderness, and all the wildlife it houses.”

Although there may be lasting effects on a larger scale, Dobish doesn’t see this project significantly changing anything about lives in Oshkosh.

“Locally, I don't think the Willow Project will have an effect on us,” she said.

Bowden believes that the future is clear, and it isn’t a pleasant one. The signing of this bill has opened the doors to many angry citizens and an even angrier Earth. 

“The carbon pollution in the atmosphere will create further damage to our planet,” she said. “It will impact all of us and will leave many climate activists angry and dissatisfied.”

by: Sophia Rigoni

Published on April 24, 2023

Oshkosh West Index Volume 119 Issue VII