Washington, D.C. — ConocoPhillips’ proposed Willow project to drill for oil in the Western Arctic is a climate disaster in waiting. A new analysis from the Center for American Progress explains why President Joe Biden should prevent this project from moving forward, as it directly conflicts with his administration’s climate objectives.
The column lays out the top four reasons why the Biden administration must reject the plan or go back to the drawing board:
- The proposed project is a climate disaster in waiting.
- The analysis for the project covers only a sliver of ConocoPhillips’ plans for the area.
- New information on the risk of gas leaks has not been properly assessed.
- ConocoPhillips has played an influential role in the environmental review.
Taken together, all evidence points to the need for the Biden administration to reject the proposal outright. Anything less would require the administration to complete a more comprehensive analysis that assesses the full scale of the project, the risks of gas leaks, and the dire threat of climate change.
“Tarmacs are melting, millions are being exposed to dangerous heat, and the Arctic is quite literally burning,” said Jenny Rowland-Shea, director for Public Lands at CAP and author of the column. “The Willow project threatens only to add to this crisis by locking the country into three decades of oil infrastructure at a time when the world’s scientists are urging us to move away from fossil fuels. Rejecting the Willow project should be a no-brainer.”
Read the column: “4 Reasons the Willow Oil Project Is Unfit for Approval” by Jenny Rowland-Shea
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].