ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A social media campaign urging President Joe Biden to reject an oil development project on Alaska’s remote North Slope has rapidly gained steam on TikTok and other platforms, reflecting the unease many young Americans feel about climate change.
The #StopWillow campaign has garnered more than 50 million views and counting, and it was trending in the top 10 topics recently on TikTok, as users voiced their concerns that Biden wouldn’t stick to his campaign promises to curtail oil drilling.
ConocoPhillips via AP
This 2019 aerial photo provided by ConocoPhillips shows an exploratory drilling camp at the proposed site of the Willow oil project on Alaska's North Slope.
“It’s just so blatantly bad for the planet,” said Hazel Thayer, a climate activist who posted TikTok videos using the #StopWillow hashtag.
“With all of the progress that the U.S. government has made on climate change, it now feels like they’re turning their backs by allowing Willow to go through,” Thayer said. “I think a lot of young people are feeling a little bit betrayed by that.”
At the same time, Alaska Native leaders with ties to the petroleum-rich North Slope support ConocoPhillips Alaska’s proposed Willow project. They have pushed back, saying the Willow Project would bring much-needed jobs and billions of dollars in taxes and mitigation funds to the vast, snow- and ice-covered region nearly 600 miles from Anchorage.
The Alaska Native mayors of two North Slope communities — Asisaun Toovak, of Utqiaġvik, the nation’s northernmost community formerly known as Barrow, and Chester Ekak, of Wainwright, about 90 miles to the southwest — penned an opinion piece for the Anchorage Daily News in support of the project.
In the debate, “the voices of the people whose ancestral homeland is most impacted have largely been ignored,” they wrote. “We know our lands and our communities better than anyone, and we know that resource development and our subsistence way of life are not mutually exclusive.”
Biden’s decision on Willow will be one of his most consequential climate decisions.
Alex Wong // Getty Images
Deb Haaland made history in March 2021 when she was confirmed as U.S. Cabinet secretary. The first cabinet secretary of Indigenous American heritage, Haaland is at the forefront of conservation efforts and the fight against climate change, telling NPR that she believes tribal consultation is necessary when addressing environmental issues. Regarded as a "barrier-breaking public servant" by the Biden administration, Haaland is positioned to play a pivotal role in the movement toward a greener future.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who fought the Willow project as a member of Congress, has the final decision on whether to approve it, although top White House climate officials are likely to be involved, with input from Biden himself. The White House has declined to comment.
Climate activists are outraged that Biden appears open to the project, which they call a “carbon bomb,” and would risk alienating young voters who have urged stronger climate action by the White House as he approaches a 2024 reelection campaign.
Willow’s critics include the Pueblo Action Alliance, which is where Haaland’s daughter, Somah Haaland, has worked. The Western Energy Alliance, an oil industry trade organization, claims that creates a conflict of interest for the secretary. Interior spokesperson Melissa Schwartz denied any conflict.
Alaska’s congressional delegation — including Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, who is the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress — backs the project and met with top officials at the White House.
With a decision anticipated soon, attention to Willow is growing online.
The project’s nature-themed name is making it easier for the topic to gain traction on social media than other oil projects with more technical-sounding names, said Cassidy DiPaola, spokesperson for People Vs. Fossil Fuels, a coalition of groups pressing Biden for an end to fossil fuel projects. A petition on change.org had more than 3 million signatures by Wednesday, making it the third most-signed petition in the company’s history, it said.
“Young voters felt like this was betraying the climate goals they had set forth,” said Tyler Steinhardt, a vice president at Pique Action, a company that produces social media and mini-documentaries about climate solutions.
Hazel Thayer via AP
TikTok user Hazel Thayer speaks out in a TikTok video against an oil drilling project that's proposed on Alaska's North Slope.
The proposed Willow project is within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, an area the size of Indiana, though about half of the reserve is off limits to oil and gas leasing under an Obama-era rule reinstated by the Biden administration last year.
It’s also where subsistence hunters kill caribou, seals, fish and bowhead whales to supplement extremely high food costs in rural Alaska, where, for example, a 24-ounce bag of shredded cheese can cost $16.99.
ConocoPhillips Alaska said Willow, one of the biggest oil fields to be proposed in Alaska in decades, could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day, or about 1.5% of the total U.S. oil production. It could also help fill the 800-mile trans-Alaska oil pipeline, which is running at about a fourth of the peak capacity in the 1980s, when more than 2 million barrels a day flowed through the line from the North Slope to Valdez for shipment.
In oil-friendly Alaska, there have been visible shows of support for the project.
The Alaska Legislature unanimously passed a resolution last month in support of the project. Local governments and Alaska Native corporations on the North Slope also back the project. Union leaders — a major Biden constituency — support it.
The Alaska Native mayors said in their opinion piece that the project is expected to generate $1.25 billion in taxes for the North Slope Borough to pay for basic services like education, fire protection and law enforcement.
“It’s time for Washington, D.C., to listen to the voices of Alaska Native communities on the North Slope and approve Willow without further delay or deferral,” Toovak and Ekak wrote.
Not all elected officials on the North Slope favor the project, however,
Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, the mayor of Nuiqsut, the community that would be closest to the Willow project, said she worried about the effect on her community’s subsistence lifestyle.
“There are many who would like to say everybody in Alaska supports oil and gas development,” she told The Associated Press last month. “Well, for our village, this development is in the wrong area … We oppose it.”
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
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Photo Credit: OlegRi / Shutterstock
Like many sectors of the economy, the energy industry has faced new challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Shifts in demand, production capacity, and distribution networks related to the virus have led to imbalances in supply and demand. Businesses and consumers who rely on petroleum and its byproducts are now confronting shortages in supply—and seeing higher prices as a result.
While the current conditions are unique and likely temporary, concerns about oil shortages are nothing new. Since before the energy crisis of the 1970s, experts have warned of “peak oil”—the point at which oil production from available reserves reaches maximum capacity and begins to diminish. But despite predictions that oil production is poised for decline, advances in geological understanding and technology like horizontal drilling and fracking have actually expanded production in recent years.
These new techniques were first widely adopted in the early to mid-2000s, and since then, the oil business in the U.S. has transformed. From the early 1980s to around 2008, U.S. oil production fell from 3.1 billion barrels to 1.8 billion per year while oil imports more than doubled from 2.1 billion to around 5 billion. Since then, imports have fallen sharply while production and exports have grown. Oil production today is over 4 billion barrels annually, and in 2020, the U.S. became a net exporter of oil for the first time.
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Photo Credit: OlegRi / Shutterstock
Like many sectors of the economy, the energy industry has faced new challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Shifts in demand, production capacity, and distribution networks related to the virus have led to imbalances in supply and demand. Businesses and consumers who rely on petroleum and its byproducts are now confronting shortages in supply—and seeing higher prices as a result.
While the current conditions are unique and likely temporary, concerns about oil shortages are nothing new. Since before the energy crisis of the 1970s, experts have warned of “peak oil”—the point at which oil production from available reserves reaches maximum capacity and begins to diminish. But despite predictions that oil production is poised for decline, advances in geological understanding and technology like horizontal drilling and fracking have actually expanded production in recent years.
These new techniques were first widely adopted in the early to mid-2000s, and since then, the oil business in the U.S. has transformed. From the early 1980s to around 2008, U.S. oil production fell from 3.1 billion barrels to 1.8 billion per year while oil imports more than doubled from 2.1 billion to around 5 billion. Since then, imports have fallen sharply while production and exports have grown. Oil production today is over 4 billion barrels annually, and in 2020, the U.S. became a net exporter of oil for the first time.
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
One important metric for capturing the growth in the oil industry in the U.S. is proved reserves. The U.S. Energy Information Administration defines proved reserves as the estimated volume of hydrocarbon resources that are recoverable under current economic and operating conditions, which can shift based on new discoveries, shifts in production capacity, or improved techniques and technologies. Proved reserves in the U.S. had peaked historically at 39 billion barrels in the early 1970s before falling by more than half, to 19 billion, in 2008. In the years since, proved reserves have spiked to above 44 billion barrels as new extraction techniques have taken hold.
One important metric for capturing the growth in the oil industry in the U.S. is proved reserves. The U.S. Energy Information Administration defines proved reserves as the estimated volume of hydrocarbon resources that are recoverable under current economic and operating conditions, which can shift based on new discoveries, shifts in production capacity, or improved techniques and technologies. Proved reserves in the U.S. had peaked historically at 39 billion barrels in the early 1970s before falling by more than half, to 19 billion, in 2008. In the years since, proved reserves have spiked to above 44 billion barrels as new extraction techniques have taken hold.
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
Some states have seen greater effects from the recent boom in oil production than others. Texas has seen a 51.7% increase in the size of its proved oil reserves over the last five years, further cementing its place as the top oil state in the U.S. With more than 18.6 billion barrels of proved oil reserves, Texas now has more than three times the total of the next-highest state, North Dakota (5.9 billion). But some other states have also been rapidly climbing up the list of major oil-producing states, with states like New Mexico (134.1% increase over the last five years) and Oklahoma (64.9%) seeing dramatic growth in the size of their reserves due to improvements in production.
Researchers at Construction Coverage analyzed data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration to determine the states that had the most crude oil proved reserves. For reference, the five-year change in proved reserves was calculated for each state. Researchers also included the number of operating refineries in each state as a point of reference.
Here are the states with the most oil reserves.
Some states have seen greater effects from the recent boom in oil production than others. Texas has seen a 51.7% increase in the size of its proved oil reserves over the last five years, further cementing its place as the top oil state in the U.S. With more than 18.6 billion barrels of proved oil reserves, Texas now has more than three times the total of the next-highest state, North Dakota (5.9 billion). But some other states have also been rapidly climbing up the list of major oil-producing states, with states like New Mexico (134.1% increase over the last five years) and Oklahoma (64.9%) seeing dramatic growth in the size of their reserves due to improvements in production.
Researchers at Construction Coverage analyzed data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration to determine the states that had the most crude oil proved reserves. For reference, the five-year change in proved reserves was calculated for each state. Researchers also included the number of operating refineries in each state as a point of reference.
Here are the states with the most oil reserves.
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
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Photo Credit: ehrlif / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 48
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -9.4%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -5
- Number of operating refineries: 1
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Photo Credit: ehrlif / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 48
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -9.4%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -5
- Number of operating refineries: 1
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
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Photo Credit: Chubykin Arkady / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 88
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): +12.8%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): +10
- Number of operating refineries: 4
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Photo Credit: Chubykin Arkady / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 88
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): +12.8%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): +10
- Number of operating refineries: 4
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
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Photo Credit: Pete Niesen / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 114
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -50.4%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -116
- Number of operating refineries: 2
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Photo Credit: Pete Niesen / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 114
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -50.4%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -116
- Number of operating refineries: 2
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
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Photo Credit: Mark Smith / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 275
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -50.5%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -280
- Number of operating refineries: 5
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Photo Credit: Mark Smith / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 275
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -50.5%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -280
- Number of operating refineries: 5
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
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Photo Credit: Rui Serra Maia / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 298
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -32.9%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -146
- Number of operating refineries: 4
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Photo Credit: Rui Serra Maia / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 298
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -32.9%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -146
- Number of operating refineries: 4
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
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Photo Credit: Robert D Brozek / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 313
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -24.4%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -101
- Number of operating refineries: 3
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Photo Credit: Robert D Brozek / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 313
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -24.4%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -101
- Number of operating refineries: 3
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
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Photo Credit: robcocquyt / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 389
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -27.2%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -145
- Number of operating refineries: 14
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Photo Credit: robcocquyt / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 389
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -27.2%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -145
- Number of operating refineries: 14
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
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Photo Credit: Jim Parkin / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 1,013
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): +6.3%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): +60
- Number of operating refineries: 4
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Photo Credit: Jim Parkin / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 1,013
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): +6.3%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): +60
- Number of operating refineries: 4
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
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Photo Credit: Bridget Calip / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 1,414
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): +17.8%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): +214
- Number of operating refineries: 2
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Photo Credit: Bridget Calip / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 1,414
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): +17.8%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): +214
- Number of operating refineries: 2
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
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Photo Credit: Vineyard Perspective / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 2,047
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): +64.9%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): +806
- Number of operating refineries: 5
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Photo Credit: Vineyard Perspective / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 2,047
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): +64.9%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): +806
- Number of operating refineries: 5
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
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Photo Credit: Richard Thornton / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 2,213
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -22.5%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -641
- Number of operating refineries: 14
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Photo Credit: Richard Thornton / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 2,213
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -22.5%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -641
- Number of operating refineries: 14
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
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Photo Credit: dani3315 / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 2,680
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -6.1%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -175
- Number of operating refineries: 5
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Photo Credit: dani3315 / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 2,680
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -6.1%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -175
- Number of operating refineries: 5
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
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Photo Credit: R. Wellen Photography / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 3,456
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): +134.1%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): +1,980
- Number of operating refineries: 1
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Photo Credit: R. Wellen Photography / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 3,456
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): +134.1%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): +1,980
- Number of operating refineries: 1
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
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Photo Credit: Steve Oehlenschlager / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 5,897
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -2.4%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -146
- Number of operating refineries: 1
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Photo Credit: Steve Oehlenschlager / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 5,897
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): -2.4%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): -146
- Number of operating refineries: 1
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TikTok campaign targets Joe Biden on Alaska’s huge Willow oil plan
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Photo Credit: Jim Parkin / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 18,622
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): +51.7%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): +6,350
- Number of operating refineries: 30
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Photo Credit: Jim Parkin / Shutterstock
- Crude oil proved reserves (million barrels): 18,622
- 5-year change in proved reserves (percent): +51.7%
- 5-year change in proved reserves (million barrels): +6,350
- Number of operating refineries: 30
