Why do so many Alaskans support an American oil megaproject?

On Wednesday March 22 at 19:30 GMT:
The US government has just approved one of the largest oil drilling projects in history on federal land. Located on the northern slope of Alaska, the $8 Billion Willow Oil Project it aims to produce an estimated 576 million barrels of oil over the next 30 years.

Environmentalists say the move represents not just a disaster waiting to happen, but a betrayal of US promises to fight climate change. Last week environmental groups filed lawsuits against the United States government to stop planned development. The approval of the Willow Project runs counter to US President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign promise to end all new oil and gas drilling on federal land.

The project’s three drill sites are within an area that was designated for future oil exploration a century ago. Local supporters, including lawmakers and many North Slope Alaskan natives, see the Willow Project as a victory for their communities as it aims to create thousands of jobs and provide much-needed tax revenue to improve public services.

However, some neighboring Inupiaq communities still fear the threat of contamination and development that could devastate local ecosystems and disrupt subsistence livelihoods.

In the second of three episodes of The Stream dedicated to the climate emergency, we’ll hear more about Project Willow and the debate over continued oil development in the Arctic.