After a federal judge vacated permits for the Willow oil drilling project on Alaska's North Slope, the Biden administration is faced with a key decision in the coming days. If approved, it would be the largest oil project in the country. ConocoPhillips, the project's developer, submitted a proposal for Willow to drill in the 23-million acre National Petroleum Reserve for an estimated 600 million barrels of oil, nearly 1.5 times the current supply in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

As part of the proposed development, three oil sites would be established and thousands of migratory birds and caribou habitats would be disturbed. According to the Biden administration estimates, the project would also release 9.2 million metric tons of carbon to the atmosphere a year and add the equivalent of 2 million gas-powered cars to the roads.

The majority of Alaska Natives on the North Slope remain