Biden’s green light to drill oil in Alaska threatens Indigenous Canadians – rabble

March 21, 2023

Joe Biden has broken with his party’s long held opposition to oil drilling in the Alaskan Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

On the eve of his first visit to this country, U.S. President Joe Biden approved a massive oil drilling project in Alaska – a project which will have significant impacts on the environment and livelihoods of Indigenous peoples in the adjacent territory of Canada’s North.

Oil corporation Conoco Phillips has given the gentle name “Willow” to its proposed $8 billion undertaking on Alaska’s North Slope, in what is known as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Willow is a name which will be ironic for anyone who has visited the area. The flood plains of the many rivers in this vast wilderness, which spans the Alaska-Canada border, are covered by willow trees.

The region, virtually untouched by industrial development, is also home to: significant fish populations, including the rare cousin of the whitefish, the inconnu (or “cony”); huge flocks of migratory birds; major endangered predators such as the Arctic wolf and the polar bear; and, most important, the 210,000-strong Porcupine caribou herd.

Read More: https://rabble.ca/politics/us-politics/bidens-green-light-to-drill-oil-in-alaska-threatens-indigenous-canadians/