Before we start, take a moment and imagine your future. Is it a loving family? Your dream job? Living a long, healthy, full life? Whatever it is, imagine taking that future and putting it in the trash. Tossing it out the door. Sayonara. Good riddance. Can you imagine throwing away your entire future because of a choice you didn’t make? What about not making it to your 50’s for the same reason? This is what will happen in the next few decades if we don’t take action to stop the Willow Project.

The Willow Project is a project suggested by ConocoPhillips, the world’s largest independent exploration company, that would cost $6 billion. The Project is arranged to be a ten year long project that will allow oil to be drilled into Alaska’s North Slope. The project would result in the deaths of thousands of animals, people, and plants in the next few decades.

The intent of the WIllow Project is to increase job opportunities, and boost domestic energy production. At what cost is this though? We can create other job opportunities, and find other energy sources without hurting our planet; like building more windmills. Building more windmills would also increase job opportunities, and supply domestic energy without hurting the environment.

The Willow Project is estimated to release 9.2 million metric tons of carbon pollution into our ecosystem every year. This is equal to providing our planet with 2 million more gas powered cars. With all of the Carbon pollution that the Project would provide, it would lead to climate change speeding up at a rapid increase.

Yes, the Willow Project will provide more jobs for the ones lost during COVID, and would produce more domestic energy, but is it really worth the sad, tragic outcome of destroying our beautiful planet when there are other ways around it?

I had a chat with 7th Grader Aynsley about the WIllow Project, she expressed that, “It’s not only affecting climate change, but it’s affecting animals, and how we’re gonna live our future.” To help stop the Willow Project, Aynsley suggests that, “You can sign the many petitions. I have signed a couple petitions.” I also talked with 7th Grader Josie about the Willow Project, and she conveyed to me, “I think it will affect my future because, if they do have the Willow Project, then It’ll affect the environment, and it will affect people’s health.” Josie has also signed the petitions on Change.org, and she has spread the awareness of the Willow Project to her friends, and has gotten them to sign the petitions as well.

To get a teacher’s perspective, I talked with 6th Grade Social Studies, and 21st Century Skills teacher, Mr. Meyer, about the Willow Project. He stated, “Any new project that is creating energy, should be renewable energy. So I think we should stay away from projects that require us to drill, grab fossil fuels, or any other fuel or energy source that would be harmful to the environment.”. He went on to mention that, “We should invest more of money and time and energy into sources that are renewable. So like solar, and geothermal, and titles and waves, and all those things.” Mr. Meyer proceeds, “Usually things will slide through governments because they don’t get enough attention. Usually money is the reason, so if enough money is behind something, then it will get support; and usually a really powerful major way to stop it would be to be active.” He then continued to suggest that protesting, writing letters, and calling your senators, are all ways to get involved to stop these things from happening.

The WIllow Project has provoked many people into making a difference. People are standing up, and are trying to save their planet. On the website Change.org, a handful of people have created petitions to stop the Willow Project. One of them is becoming the top signed petition on the website with over 3,000,000 signatures from people all around the world.

Now that the Willow Project has been accepted, people are determined to save their planet and their future generations. With your help, we can achieve that goal. Change.org “Stop The Willow Project”, send letters, call the government, be active. Save our planet while you still can. Make a difference. You have a voice, use it.

Works Cited 

Nilsen, Ella. “Climate Advocates Are Rallying against the Willow Project. The

White House Is Eyeing Concessions to Soften the Blow | CNN Politics.” CNN,

Cable News Network, 3 Mar. 2023,

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/02/politics/willow-project-petition-concessions-bid

n-climate/index.html.