Joe Biden, Are You Serious?

Our livelihoods are being threatened by Climate Change and let’s not get this twisted, while US President Joe Biden continues to parrott Climate Change and green energy, we cannot take him very seriously when he approves things like the Willow Project, a oil drilling project in Alaska that according to a report by the US Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management, would not only drastically impact Indian tribes like the Nuiqsut tribe, who would be drastically impacted because according to the report, of their “proximity to activities and subsistence use of the area”(418) . The Nuiqstut tribe would also have less access to food. Other Native American Tribes would also be affected. Let me make this clear, they already are being affected by Climate Change. Continued Land loss have led Natives to areas that are more drastically affected by Climate Change. Those areas tend to have stronger heatwaves and less precipitation. Indigenous tribes are struggling already and have struggled in the past. With dangerous projects such as the Willow Project, they will continue to struggle in the future. With every drill that rings in Alaska, the deeper the pool of despair will deepen for Native Americans. Their cries for help will be muffled by the sounds of the drilling sinking into their homeland.

Not only will the Willow Project continue to destroy Indigenous communities, it will also continue to contribute to the ever growing Climate Crisis.  According to Emma Marris, a writer from the Weekly Planet, the Willow Project could produce up to 600 million barrels of oil, 287 million tons of carbon emissions, and would also release the same amount of greenhouse gasses as half a million homes. Let’s let that sit for a minute. 500,000 homes. 287 million tons. 600 million barrels of oil. That is enough for any of us to shudder. That should be enough for any of us to fear for the future. Oil and gas after all these years, studies, calls for actions, political battling, still having a chokehold on our industry and our futures. 

 According to the timeline for the Willow Project, ConocoPhillips would still be drilling by 2050. We have to be net Zero carbon emissions before then never mind by 2050. Approving such a project by a President who parroted not approving any new projects during his campaign is nothing short of ignorance, dishonesty, and recklessness. Projects like this will do nothing but continue chucking the younger generation’s futures into a spiral.

The President has promised to treat Climate Change as the super serious issue it is. While he has certainty not been bad admittedly, with his record levels of spending on Climate Change, actions like this undermine the pledge he gave during his Presidential campaign.

Readers, it is time to step it up. Write to President Biden, lead protests of the Project. We need to continue to fight every project that President Biden approves. Maybe he doesn’t understand the urgency of Climate Change but we do. 

Sources: Willow Master Development Plan Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement - Volume 1 (blm.gov)

Forced relocation left Native Americans more vulnerable to climate change : NPR

The Willow oil project in Alaska won’t bridge the energy gap - The Atlantic (archive.org)