Sisters of Mercy on Environment: The Willow Project
The Washington Post//Getty Images
March 14, 2023
As students we are taught about the Critical Concerns of the Sisters of Mercy. Currently, there is an environmental crisis involving a recently approved project from the Biden Administration.
The Willow Project is a multi-decade oil drilling project in the federally administered National Petroleum Reserve. The planned project area contains 600 million barrels of oil, yet it will take years for the oil to reach the market because the project has yet to be developed. Willow would emit more climate pollution annually than more than 99.7% of all single point sources in the country.
This project will affect the climate exponentially, and Alaskan Natives not in favor of Willow believe the project poses health and environmental risks.
There has been a vast amount of online activism against the Willow Project. This includes over one million letters written to the White House and 4 million signatures on online petitions. The Assumption Rocket Launch staff is encouraging students to do the same.
The Sisters of Mercy encourage you to write a letter sharing your opposition to the proposal and to contact [email protected] to help send it off!
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
Sign this Petition on change.org
We are on the approach of irreversible environmental damage, which will result in catastrophic employment and property losses, illnesses, and the evacuation of entire towns. Recent study indicates that the Arctic is warming four to five times faster than the rest of the world. When oil is sold and carried throughout the world, Indigenous peoples in the Arctic are left to deal with the health repercussions of pollution as well as the devastation caused by significant environmental changes such as sea ice melt, permafrost thaw, and shoreline erosion.
Rockets, please continue to educate yourself and your peers on the world around you. There is still hoped to stop the project within the 7 years of prep before beginning drilling. You are the future, so use your voice.
