What is the Willow Project? Joe Biden to decide on controversial oil plan

US President Joe Biden is due to decide whether to give the go-ahead for a controversial oil and gas drilling project in Alaska.

The company that is proposing the project and Alaska's lawmakers say that it will bring jobs to the region.

But there is strong opposition from environmental groups who say that it will damage the environment.

An online petition against the project has had more than 2.9 million signatures so far and videos against the project have flooded TikTok- videos with #StopWillow got close to 50 million views in the last week.

In February President Biden's administration said it would support a scaled-back version of the plan and a decision is expected this month.

Here's more on what the project is and what people are saying about it.

What is the Willow Project?

Alaska is an area rich in oil and gas

The Willow Project is a proposed plan from oil producer ConocoPhillips.

It would be located inside the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, a 23 million-acre (93 million-hectare) area on the state's North Slope.

It is the largest area of undisturbed public land in the US.

ConocoPhillips estimates that at its peak the drilling will produce 180,000 barrels of oil per day - 600 million barrels over the life of the project, in its present form.

ConocoPhillips originally proposed five drilling sites and the project would include a place to process the oil, pipelines to transport oil, gravel roads and at least one airstrip.

An environmental review by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM), suggested a scaled-back plan which included three drill sites and less surface infrastructure.

What do supporters of the Willow Project say?

ConocoPhillips is one of the biggest oil producers in the USA

ConocoPhillips say it will bring $17 billion (£14 billion) in revenue for federal and state governments and local Alaska communities.

The company also says the construction would create 2,000 jobs.

Some indigenous leaders have also expressed support for the project.

Nagruk Harcharek, president of the group Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat said it would bring economic benefits to the region and urged President Biden to move forward with the plans.

Why do people say the Willow Project is a bad idea?

One of the indigenous communities in Alaska is worried that the drilling will impact the caribou

Environmental groups say that the project goes against Biden's promise to fight climate change.

The Sierra Group, a US environmental organisation said in a press release:

"The Willow project would have a devastating effect on public lands and our climate, and approving it after passing the largest climate bill in history would be a giant step in reverse."

President Biden put in place a new aim to reduce emissions by 50-52 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030 in April 2021.

The Sierra group also said the project would impact the Alaska wilderness and the wildlife that lives there.

There has been a huge surge of anti-Willow videos posted on TikTok getting tens of millions of views

There has also been opposition from other indigenous groups.

Siqiniq Maupin, executive director of the Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, said the project would have a devastating impact on Native communities and would worsen climate change.

The Nuiqsut community, which lives closest to where the development would take place, have expressed concern that the work would disturb the caribou - also known as reindeer - that the villagers rely on for food and the pollution could affect their health.