Nicole Evans ‘26
Staff Writer

Permafrost is ground meant to stay at or below 0℃ for two or more years. Due to constant CO2 admissions into our atmosphere, these supposed permanently frozen surfaces are starting to melt.
While the Arctic has been melting for decades, many proposed projects like the one by architect Faris Rajak Kotahatuhaha want to use devices to refreeze the arctic.
ConocoPhillips, an American company that specializes in hydrocarbon exploration based in Houston, Texas has proposed the Willow Project.
According to “The Washington Post,” Willow is an oil reserve in Arctic Alaska controlled by the oil company ConocoPhillips. It’s on Alaska’s North Slope, less than 30 miles from the Arctic Ocean.
The Willow Project is a decade-long oil drilling plan in Alaska intended to boost employment and energy(gas) production.
ConocoPhillips Willow Project wants to use “chillers” to refreeze Alaskan soil so their team can drill for more oil; this could potentially lower the decade-high gas prices.
Despite the possibility of helping the United States’ struggling economy, The Willow Project will release around 250,000,000 metric tons of CO2 into our atmosphere within only 30 years.
Even though millions of people signed petitions and sent in letters, on March 14, 2023, the Biden administration approved this project.