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Biden Administration Approves Major Oil Drilling Operation on Alaska’s Northern Slope

People vs. Fossil Fuels, a national coalition of over 1,200 frontline, climate justice, and progressive organizations, strongly condemned the Biden administration for its decision to approve the Willow Oil Drilling Project – a major oil drilling operation to be constructed on Alaska’s North Slope that has been loudly opposed by the environmental and climate justice community, including Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic and Alaska Wilderness League.

The decision ignores widespread opposition that grew rapidly since Feb. 1st, when the Biden administration signaled it would approve the project in the release of its final environmental impact statement. In the month following, over 2.3 million new comments were submitted to the White House urging President Biden to deny the project. A Change.org petition grew overnight, reaching over 3.2 million signatures, the largest environmental petition the site has seen in years. #StopWillow videos from a diverse array of young creators went viral online, with an estimated 200+ million views across social platforms. 

The Willow Oil Project locks us into decades of fossil fuel pollution at a time when we desperately need to stop all new fossil fuel projects and begin rapidly phasing out existing production. The approval is a denial of climate science, and directly contradicts the administration’s commitment to protect wilderness areas in Alaska from resource extraction and Biden’s own stated climate goals.

In response, People vs. Fossil Fuels released the following statement: 

“Global scientists have been absolutely clear: We must end fossil fuel expansion if we are going to avoid irreversible climate devastation and immediate harm to frontline communities. Approving a massive new oil drilling project that is estimated to release 280 million metric tons of greenhouse gasses when we are already in a climate emergency is signing away our future. 

“Biden’s presidential powers allow him to reject all new fossil fuel projects and declare a climate emergency that would ensure the survival of our communities and our planet. Instead, he is choosing to fatten the wallets of Oil CEOs by expanding fossil fuel infrastructure that will drive us further into climate chaos.

“The fight to #StopWillow and all new fossil fuel projects isn’t over. Our movement to fight fossils is continuing to grow – and we’ll continue to fight for a livable future in line with science and justice.” 

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Click here to read SILA’s full statement on the Willow project approval.

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Environmental and social justice activists are converging in Atlanta for a week of action to protest the destruction of Welaunee Forest, one of the largest urban forests in the country, to build a facility to train police officers in counterinsurgency operations. Activists are also calling for justice for Tortuguita, a queer Indigenous youth and a beloved member of the community of activists protecting Welaunee Forest, who was assassinated by police in January. Barely a day into the week of action, militarized law enforcement agencies have already violently raided a concert in the forest, threatening musicians and families with children.

As the People vs Fossil Fuels coalition, we stand in solidarity with the Stop Cop City mobilization in Atlanta. We unequivocally oppose proliferation of militarized policing, which threatens Black, Indigenous, and peoples of the Global Majority with even more state violence.

We insist on the right of communities to protect forests, land, and water from pollution and destruction, including through acts of mass civil disobedience, and are appalled that agencies of the State of Georgia carried out what is increasingly looking like a targeted assassination of an activist. 

For decades, the U.S. has directly or indirectly supported the murders of environmental defenders across the Global South. Often, these murders have been carried out by agents of U.S.-backed authoritarian governments, in the interest of extractive projects pushed by transnational corporations. The assassination of Tortuguita is a stark reminder of how this kind of violence occurs in the US. as well. We see it in the proliferation of draconian “critical infrastructure” laws to criminalize peaceful protest against polluting infrastructure, and in the state violence against Indigenous water protectors during the struggles against the Dakota Access and Line 3 pipelines. We also see it in the chilling use of “terrorism” charges against Welaunee Forest defenders in Atlanta, for routine acts of nonviolent civil disobedience such as tree-sits.

We condemn the destruction of a forest in the middle of a global climate emergency, and especially, a forest that provides critical cooling and runoff prevention benefits in a low-income, majority Black community, in a region of the country that is already experiencing deadly summer heatwaves and increased rainfall and flood risks. 

We demand an independent investigation into Tortuguita’s death. The police must not be allowed to investigate themselves.

We demand that prosecutors drop the preposterous “terrorism” charges against forest defenders, which are clearly intended for one purpose only – to intimidate people and deter them from defending their communities and the Earth.

Finally, we demand that the City of Atlanta reverse course, halt construction, and revoke the permits for Cop City.

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Frontline and Climate Activists Gather at White House One Final Time Before the Biden Administration’s Decision on Willow Drops

(Washington, DC) — Today, frontline, climate, and Indigenous activists rallied outside the White House, urging the Biden administration and the Department of the Interior to stop the dangerous Willow Drilling Project. Supporters stood together in the rain during the rally led by Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic (SILA), a group of Indigenous activists from the Arctic who have been leading the fight to stop Willow. 

The Biden administration is expected to issue its final decision as soon as March 6th and calls to stop the project have been growing rapidly. On social media, #StopWillow has become a top trend, amassing a total of more than 200M views and 18k videos across platforms, putting pressure on Biden at a pivotal moment in his climate career.

“President Biden continues to address climate change during high profile speeches and events but his actions are contradictory. The Willow Master Development Plan would double the amount of emissions that he had planned to reduce, nullifying any efforts by this administration to combat climate change,” said Siqiniq Maupin, Executive Director of SILA.“He has the power to stop this climate disaster and be on the right side of history, he must stop the Willow project now.”

Proponents of the Willow project argue that the project would help short-term global energy markets and offset high gas prices. But ConocoPhillips’ own projections show that oil production would not occur for at least six years following its approval, moving the country further from a rapidly accelerating clean energy future and workforce, while doing nothing for the current price of gas. 

“We know that the jobs will go to the outsiders, and the jobs given to the local Indigenous will be only temporary. It pains me … the health of our people, the joblessness, the inability to find the caribou and the fish, that our land will surfer by being covered up with oil, and our children will suffer as always happens when oil is extracted, said Nutaaq Simmonds of Utqiagvik, Alaska.

The massive oil drilling development in Alaska’s western Arctic threatens wildlife, the climate, and the way of life of local communities. The project is expected to emit 278 million metric tons of climate pollution over the next 30 years – that’s equivalent to the annual emissions from 74 coal plants, one-third of all remaining U.S. plants. Approving this project stands in stark contrast to Biden’s climate commitments and campaign promises that voters took to the polls. 

“We all know someone who has died from a cancer that is the size of a pinhead,” said Karlin Nageak Itchoak of Utqiagvik and Nome, Alaska.“We know that size is not a true representation of impact with development.” 

As groups rallied, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) led their colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden calling on his administration to reject ConocoPhillips’ Willow.

“Giving ConocoPhillips the green light on the Willow project would not just be a disaster in its own right—it would pave the way for even more oil and gas drilling in the area in the future,” said Representative Raúl Grijalva. “The Biden administration still has a chance to make the right decision to shut down this dangerous project and send the message that climate change, Alaska Natives’ and local residents’ lives, and wildlife matter more than helping Big Oil rake in even more record-breaking profits.”

For more information contact cassidy@fossilfree.media.

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Biden Administration Prepares to Approve Major Oil Drilling Operation on Alaska’s Northern Slope

People vs. Fossil Fuels, a national coalition of over 1,200 frontline, climate justice, and progressive organizations, strongly condemned the Biden administration for moving closer to approving the Willow Oil Drilling Project, a major oil drilling operation proposed on Alaska’s North Slope that has been condemned by climate activists and Indigenous communities alike. 

The move would directly contradict recent administration moves to protect wilderness areas in Alaska from resource extraction and the Biden administration’s own stated climate goals, such as stopping Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay for environmental protection. 

Over its lifetime, the ConocoPhillips’ oil drilling plan would add over 250 million metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere over the next thirty years, equivalent to the annual emissions from one-third of all remaining U.S. coal plants, or seventy-six new plants.

In response, People vs. Fossil Fuels released the following statement: 

“Global scientists have been absolutely clear: To avoid irreversible climate devastation and immediate harm to frontline communities, we must end all new investment in fossil fuel projects. Any approval for a new fossil fuel project at this stage in the climate emergency – especially one at the scale of the Willow project – is locking us into an assured climate catastrophe.

In addition to accelerating irreversible climate change for the Arctic and the rest of the world, this project would also disproportionately affect the community of Nuiqsut, a predominantly Iñupiat village of about 500 people who are already living through extreme pollution from existing oil projects and have already expressed their opposition to Willow. 

Our communities have also been clear since the first day of Biden’s presidency: living up to his climate and environmental justice promises means using his presidential powers to reject all new fossil fuel projects and declare a climate emergency. We will not stand for more planet-killing fossil fuel project approvals. If Biden wants to retain the support of the people and his mandate to govern, he must take immediate steps to reject the Willow project and end the era of fossil fuels once and for all.” 

ConocoPhillips’ Willow project is seeking to drill in five locations in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The final environmental impact statement (EIS) released by Biden’s Department of Interior today states that its ‘preferred’ option is to allow three drilling locations – with a fourth deferred – which essentially signals it would approve such a plan. A final permitting decision will be issued in the next 30 days. 

In addition to the further climate devastation this project would unleash, it would also pose serious harm to the Native Village of Nuiqsut on the North Slope. In 2021, the project was denied by an Alaskan court for failing to adequately take into account the impact it would have on the surrounding environment. No amount of “precautions” taken will make oil extraction safe for the local ecosystem and global climate.

In March of 2022, ConocoPhillips failed to adequately inform and protect the Village of Nuiqsut after the CD1 Alpine drill pad had a gas leak and evacuated their employees. Local community members recall instances of lightheadedness and illness during the time. However, ConocoPhillips continued to claim that there was nothing to worry about while natural gas continued to leak into the air for days. In 2012, a Repsol drilling operation resulted in a “blow-out” that spewed over 40,000 gallons of drilling mud into the surrounding area and resulted in reports of respiratory ailments in locals. If any alternative besides the No Action Alternative were to be approved, the Village of Nuiqsut would be completely encircled by development and the probability of another hazardous accident like CD1 and Repsol occurring increases. 

In the days leading up to the release of the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, the Native Village of Nuiqsut released a letter to the Bureau of Land Management expressing their many concerns involving this project: 

We express our concerns, but BLM continues to weaken our waive mitigation measures, or fails to enforce them, and the impact to our daily life continues. We explain how the road will deflect caribou and make hunting more difficult, and BLM hears us asking for more road access. We say the helicopters disturb the caribou, and BLM again hears us asking for more roads. We explain our distress about our air quality from routine activities, and we are confronted with accidents like Repsol and CD1. We point out that it is becoming harder for us to harvest subsistence food, and BLM responds with more research and monitoring (but continued activity). We speak of the significance of our tradition and culture, and BLM schedules meetings during whaling. We emphasize the importance of our life, health, and safety, and we watch as ConocoPhillips employees are evacuated from CD1. We express concerns about our lack of access to information about the CD1 accident and our fundamental responsibility to protect the people of our village, and we are accused of causing panic and alarm during the blowout. People state opposition to the endless expansion of oil development and the complete encirclement of our village, and they face repercussions. It is therefore with deep and persevering commitment to protecting our culture, health, and survival that we offer the following comments: 

1. The public and cooperating agency process has been deeply flawed. 
2. BLM must adequately address the impacts of uncontrolled gas released. 
3. BLM must consider an alternative that protects our subsistence and traditional way of life. 
4. BLM must conduct more comprehensive analysis of impacts to our health and include meaningful measures to protect the health of Nuiqsut residents. 

Click here to read the statement from Sovereign Inupiat for a Living Arctic.

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Frontline and climate justice groups with People vs. Fossil Fuels have helped lead the national fight against Manchin’s Dirty Deal

(Washington, D.C) – People vs. Fossil Fuels, a national coalition of over 1,200 frontline, climate justice, and progressive organizations, celebrated yet another defeat for Manchin’s Dirty Deal this evening, as the Senate failed to advance the Senator’s attempt to attach his permitting legislation to the National Defense Authorization Act.

People vs. Fossil Fuels groups organized in-district actions, D.C. rallies, letters to the editor, press calls, and events with Members of Congress in Washington to oppose the plan. The coalition also drove thousands of phone calls to Congress urging members to oppose the deal. As attention shifts to President Biden’s authority to confront the climate crisis in 2023, the coalition will continue escalating pressure for him to use his power as president to stop fossil fuel expansion and declare a climate emergency.

In response, People vs. Fossil Fuels released the following statement: 

“The people have triumphed over the polluters once again. Senator Manchin’s Dirty Deal was a direct assault on frontline communities and the environmental laws that protect our air, water, climate and public health. But we know this fight isn’t over: the fossil fuel industry and the politicians in their pocket will continue to try and rubber stamp more dangerous fossil fuel projects. Wherever they go, we’ll be there to stop them.

The dirty deal directly contradicts President Biden’s climate plan and his rhetoric about environmental justice. President Biden needs to listen to communities, not Big Oil CEOs and use his power to reject all fossil fuel projects and declare a climate emergency, and we will continue to demand that he protects our public interest and follows through.”

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