“It’s the number one issue facing humanity. And it’s the number one issue for me,” Joe Biden said, on an episode of Pod Save America, expressing his position on the climate crisis.

Joe Biden promised America that he would take action against climate change. He promised he would move away from oil and fossil fuels. He promised he would ensure the health of the planet for future generations. 

And with one pen stroke, he has broken his environmental promises. 

By accepting the Willow Project, an oil drilling venture in the North Slope of Alaska issued by ConocoPhillips, Biden has contradicted his environmental stance. The project will produce a staggering 260 million metric tons of greenhouse gasses, officially becoming the largest oil plant on U.S. soil. 

The original project had plans to produce 180,000 barrels of oil a day at its peak. The agreed-upon “compromise” is still allowing 92% of the projected oil to be produced. Surrounding wildlife and Alaskan natives will suffer immensely during and after the implementation of the endeavor. 

Additionally, the oil, when burned, will be equivalent to 70 coal power plants burning for a year.

Biden has made a mistake. 

Instead of implementing and discovering new, clean sources of energy, Biden is locking fossil fuels into the U.S. economy for the next 30 years, the time period when it is most important to change energy behavior. 

Hundreds of protests, thousands of studies, and millions of people have asked those in power to listen. To see the impacts that are occurring all over the world due to carbon emissions. Politicians have continued to make promises to protect the Earth’s future, but have continuously not followed through. 

The Willow Project is only one of the many environmental disasters leaders around the world have implemented, choosing to ignore the science that has been placed in front of them. 

For years, we have been asking politicians and industry to understand the severity of the climate crisis. It is time to stop asking. Start taking real action for planet Earth.