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THE WILLOW PROJECT AND THE FATE OF OUR SPECIES

We're moving in the wrong direction; only we the people can turn it around.
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Many people are upset about the Willow Project, and for good reason. 

The $8 billion oil drilling project in Alaska is undoubtedly “recklessly irresponsible,” in the words of Al Gore. Despite President Biden’s campaign promises that there would be no further oil drilling on federal land, the project brings 200 oil drills, multiple pipelines, air strips and other fossil fuel extraction infrastructure to Alaska’s North Slope.

Science tells us, and tells us loudly, that humanity must mobilize at a global scale to end the coming climate catastrophe. We should be ramping down fossil fuel extraction, not revving it up – and people know it. Children of all creeds line the street in the millions to protest. Scientists chain themselves to trees and tractors. The soil beneath our very feet shifts in unnatural ways, propelled only by humanity’s undue influence. The planet and the people in unison are pleading for relief.

Moving forward with the Willow Project will produce 280 million metric tons of greenhouse gas, equal to adding two million cars to the roads each year. The despoliation of air, animals, trees, water, and land by endless of miles of airstrips and pipelines in one of the most pristine places left on earth, will earn multi-billion-dollar profits to oil giant ConocoPhillips. They in turn will pump millions of dollars back into lobbying Washington for more.

This is what happens when corporate greed takes precedence over responsibility to people and planet.

So the system goes. And why we need to disrupt it.

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Incremental change, especially regarding the climate crisis, is an inadequate response to the challenge before us. Thankfully it’s not too late to save our planet and ourselves - but we must act fast. To begin with, we need to face the corruption in our political system that allows fossil fuel companies to hold our democracy hostage. The only thing that can override the nefarious influence of their financial grip on Washington is a movement of citizens so awakened to the danger, and to our need to stop it, that we produce a revolution at the ballot box.

That is why I am running for President.

A Williamson administration will take a full-systems approach to climate action, helping to reverse global warming and lead the planet towards long-term sustainability. We must make an emergency-level just transition from a dirty economy to a clean economy. Thousands of people make their living working for the the fossil fuel industry, and the transition must prioritize their ability - for every one of them - to find good jobs in the clean energy sector. We will undergo a full-scale mobilization effort, not unlike the kind undertaken by the United States during World War II. On day one of my administration, I will cancel the Willow Project. The days of fossil fuel extraction will begin to end.

As President, I will act with the fierce urgency this crisis demands of us. I hope you will read my Climate Policy and join me in the effort to change America’s direction.

If your heart says yes to this please go to Marianne2024.com and donate generously to help make it happen. We have all been trained to limit our political imaginations, to think we can no longer do great things in this country. But actually we can, and if you help me get to the White House then we will.

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Politics & Society
Marianne's writing on politics and society.