6. Sharayah McDonald- Reading Response 3

    Week 7's textbook reading, pages 155-190, is very relevant to current events, including the Willow Project. This chapter explains that fossil fuels are finite because more are not created as fast as we are consuming them. Furthermore, oil production and consumption is not even across the globe, for the places where energy is the most used are not the countries where the most is produced. For example, 1/3 of US oil comes from Canada, Mexico, and Western Europe and the other 2/3 comes from South America, western Africa, and the Middle East. Due to this, US national interests are tied to politically risky producers of fossil fuels, and there is a relationship between energy and national security. The chapter also explains that US production of oil has dwindled because there is no more cheap oil to be obtained here. Furthermore, the US and China are the greatest contributors to global warming due to our consumption of oil, natural gas, and coal. The average American emits carbon more than twice as fast as the average Japanese. However, as oil prices rise, renewable energy becomes more competitive economically. The most important fuel from an economic standpoint is petroleum, but when it becomes more expensive people start turning to alternative solutions.  

    The Willow Project is an oil and gas drilling proposal in the National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska. It is the largest oil extraction project proposed on federal lands, and it was approved towards the end of the Trump Administration, and is now up to the Biden Administration to continue or cancel. It is estimated to add more than 250 million metric tons of CO2 to the atmosphere over the next 30 years, which is equal to 56 million vehicles. It would contribute more greenhouse gases than any other proposed project on American public lands. It would require up to 250 wells, 37 miles of roads, 389 miles of pipes, airstrips, and a new central processing facility. The company who would drill this, ConocoPhillips, has been surrounded by controversy for exploitation of nature, continued drilling, and posing risks to indigenous communities. The company claims that Willow would help mitigate inflation and high energy costs, however this is not true for it would take years before it produced a single drop of oil. 

    This correlates to the textbook reading, for while this plan claims to help lower prices of oil, this would make renewable resources less competitive economically. We need to be switching to renewable resources, not ruining more land to use more oil. While this is a huge adjustment, it needs to be done as soon as possible, and this project will delay it. The good news is, this project has gained massive attention on social media, and the public is putting a lot of pressure on the Biden Administration to not approve the project. The Biden Administration is trying to create a compromise for the situation by offering to reduce the number of drilling sites from 3 to 2, but the environmental protestors do not want a compromise, they want the plan to be cancelled. Furthermore, during his campaign, President Biden promised to end new oil and gas drilling on public lands and waters. The Biden Administration has yet to release their decision, but is expected to do so in the next coming days. In the meantime, petitions to remove the Willow Project have gone viral, including one that has over 3 million signatures and counting. I have linked the petition to the bottom of this post. It is vital for the future of our planet that this plan not be approved. 

https://www.change.org/p/joseph-r-biden-biden-administration-and-conocophillips-say-no-to-the-willow-project