President Biden can (still) defuse the climate bomb in America’s Arctic

Although President Biden’s larger climate agenda teeters on the razor’s edge of congressional negotiations, he faces an enormous climate opportunity in America’s Arctic.

All eyes are on the president to deliver on his climate promises, now that the chance at climate legislation seems to be slipping away yet again. The resident finds himself in an increasingly hot seat to address the climate crisis on all fronts — and the ticking climate bomb that only the White House can defuse is a development proposal so massive it would equal the annual output of nearly one-third of U.S. coal power plants.

ConocoPhillips Willow oil and gas development project would be the largest in the nation, proposed on some of America’s most biodiverse and sensitive public lands. 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 allowable. A project of this magnitude deserves longer, as no single oil and gas proposal has more potential to impact this administration’s climate and public lands legacy. Furthermore, the enormous proposal is just the tip of the iceberg, laying a foundation for expensive oil and gas infrastructure for decades to come. Our climate would pay the price, and yet — as the project wouldn’t come online for years — it would have zero impact on current gas prices.

Most Americans may not ever get to experience firsthand the rich ecosystem and biodiversity at risk under the proposal, but for decades people from around the country and world have raised their voices to protect the unique and unspoiled lands of our American Arctic. On a recent visit to the Utukok River (southwest of the proposed drilling area), I had the remarkable experience of seeing what’s 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 camp, which made us think about how rich of an ecosystem 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 risking extinction of keystone species such as caribou and polar bears.

As the single biggest oil and gas proposal on federal lands — by far — Willow represents an existential climate threat. It would further accelerate climate change effects in a region already being ravaged by climate change (warming 3-4 times the global average). If President Biden is serious about honoring the climate and public lands protection commitments that helped elect him, this is the real litmus test.

The proposed project to drill America’s Arctic is a huge mistake: It would lock in new oil extraction in globally important habitats for 30+ years. Irreplaceable resources in the crosshairs include the Teshekpuk Caribou Herd’s migration — which provides subsistence and cultural value to Indigenous peoples — and Teshekpuk Lake, one of the Arctic’s largest wetlands, a lifeblood for 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 aftermath will be severe, including long-term and harmful outcomes to food security, traditional activities, sociocultural systems, and public health in Arctic communities in and around the area. The proposal would include up to 250 new wells on up to five drilling sites, new processing facilities, nearly 1,000 miles of ice roads, a new airstrip, permanent gravel roads, new bridges across rivers, and 300+ miles of pipelines.

The decision — and climate accountability — rests solely with the White House. Willow is the penultimate climate mistake America cannot afford to make. 

Dr. Peter Winsor lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, and is the executive director of The Alaska Wilderness League.