Although President Biden’s broader climate agenda teeters on the razor’s edge of congressional negotiations, he faces a huge climate opportunity in the US Arctic.
All eyes are on the president following through on his climate promises, now that the prospect of climate legislation appears to be fading once again. The resident is in an increasingly difficult situation to address the climate crisis on all fronts, and the ticking climate bomb that only the White House can spread is a development proposal so that massive would be equivalent to the annual production of nearly a third of US coal-fired power plants.
The ConocoPhillips Willow oil and gas development project would be the largest in the nation, proposed on some of the most sensitive and biodiverse public lands in the United States. The administration recently initiated a process to consider the project’s environmental impact, giving the public and local communities just 45 days to weigh in, the shortest period legally allowed. A project of this magnitude deserves more time, as no single oil and gas proposal has more potential to impact the climate and public lands legacy of this administration. Furthermore, the huge proposal is just the tip of the iceberg, laying the groundwork for expensive oil and gas infrastructure for decades to come. Our climate would pay the price, and yet since the project would not come online for years, it would have no impact on current gas prices.
Most Americans may never get to experience firsthand the rich ecosystem and biodiversity at risk under the proposal, but for decades people across the country and the world have spoken out to protect the unique and pristine lands of our American Arctic. On a recent visit to the Utukok River (southwest of the proposed drilling area), I had the extraordinary experience of seeing what is at stake: caribou roaming, grizzly bears feeding and mating, and endless carpets of wildflowers blooming across the expansive landscape. We discovered a mammoth tusk near the camp, which made us think about how rich the ecosystem of this area has been for thousands of years. It was a stark reminder of these critical wilderness areas, and how sensitive and pristine arctic ecosystems would be pushed past tipping points by industrial development, potentially putting key species like caribou and bears at risk of extinction. polar.
As the largest single oil and gas proposal on federal land by far, Willow poses an existential climate threat. It would further accelerate the effects of climate change in a region is already being devastated by climate change (warming 3-4 times the global average). If President Biden is serious about meeting the public lands and climate protection commitments that helped elect him, this is the real litmus test.
The proposed project to drill the US Arctic is a big mistake: It would block the extraction of new oil in globally important habitats for more than 30 years. Irreplaceable resources in the spotlight include the migrating Teshekpuk caribou herd, which provides livelihood and cultural value to indigenous peoples, and Lake Teshekpuk, one of the largest wetlands in the Arctic, a lifeline for birds waterfowl and many birds that nest and raise their young in the far north. , migrating to the lower 48 states and around the world.
The consequences will be severe, including detrimental long-term results for food security, traditional activities, sociocultural systems, and public health in and around arctic communities in the area. The proposal would include up to 250 new wells at up to five drilling sites, new processing facilities, nearly 1,000 miles of ice roads, a new airstrip, permanent gravel roads, new river bridges and more than 300 miles of pipeline.
The decision, and climate responsibility, rests solely with the White House. Willow is the penultimate climate mistake that the United States cannot afford to make.
Dr. Peter Winsor lives in Fairbanks, Alaska and is the Executive Director of The Alaska Wilderness League.