Shea Gallagher | Student Life Editor
March 17th, 2023
To much of our disappointment, the Biden administration decided to approve the Willow project, despite 3.6 million (and rising) signatures protesting it on change.org.
Biden’s decision to approve the Willow Oil Project is seen as a complete betrayal and going against his word to many of his previous supporters. On February 9th, 2020, at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire, Joe Biden answered a question asked about arctic drilling and responded with “No more drilling on federal lands, period, period, period”, followed by the comment that drilling would be “a big disaster, in my view.” Clearly, actions speak louder than words…
On Monday, March 13th, 2023, the Biden administration approved the Willow project, saddening many and making us fear for future generations and the well-being of the environment as we know it. Senior Emmy Atkinson explained, “We are at a point in our climate change crisis in which it has become critical that we drastically reduce our carbon emissions-this is taking a large step backwards.”
Not only will this decision affect Americans but the entire world will live to see the detriments of this oil drilling project. This will permanently change the ecologically rich arctic by emitting hundreds of millions of metric tons of carbon, eroding habitats, disrupting animal migration, and posing health risks for Alaska natives.
Despite what we may think, the United States Republican Senator for Alaska, Dan Sullivan, is actually in complete support of the project. Senator Sullivan is in complete support as, “The benefits offered by Willow include the highest environmental standards and the lowest emissions of any major project in the world, the unanimous, bipartisan support of the Alaska Legislature, the overwhelming support of Alaska Native communities and labor unions, and the opportunity to enhance America’s national security. Sullivan also criticized the Lower 48 environmental groups, acting as “eco-colonialists,” who are working to kill the Willow Project and subvert the voices and interests of Alaska Native people who strongly support the project.”
Senior Katerina Patton says, “I would think in today’s day and age we would be moving forward in issues with climate change, instead we’re moving backward. It’s sad to see. I hope our generation can do more to counteract this damage for generations to come.”
I think it would benefit all of us if the people who make crude decisions for the entirety of the world watched The Lorax or Wall-E on their days off.
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