Meet the backpacker making Trump's Arctic drilling push go viral

TikTok can be a sea of brain-rot, misinformation, and ads. Creators trying to inform the public about environmental issues face an uphill battle.

But last month, Virginia-based engineer Bentley Hensel figured out a way to engage hundreds of thousands of TikTok users on President Donald Trump’s plan to drill in the Arctic: By backpacking through the Arctic and showing people what’s at stake. 

In his viral TikTok—which has so far garnered over 700,000 views and over 16,000 shares—Hensel stands in the middle of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, one of America’s most remote and delicate ecosystems.

“Do you give a shit about the environment?” asks Hensel, pleading for less than 60 seconds of his viewers’ time. He points to one mountain in the distance. "That’s where Trump wants to drill real bad.” 

Stressing that he’s not seeking income, Hensel—a former Congressional candidate—asks for anyone who sees the video to simply connect him to members of the media who will cover the issue. “I just want to get the message out that we cannot drill in this area,” he says.

TikTok then worked its magic, and HEATED saw the video. We contacted Hensel to learn more about what goes into 60 seconds of climate fame, and why it matters. 

A 60 second video, eight months of prep

Recording a short video showing where Trump wants to drill in the Arctic is a simple idea. But pulling it off requires intense preparation.

ANWR is located on Alaska’s remote northern coast, and is roughly the size of South Carolina. To get there, Hensel had to first fly to Anchorage, then to the northern Alaskan city of Fairbanks, and then to the neighboring town Arctic Village, where he chartered a plane from Silvertip Aviation to drop him at his starting point in the refuge’s wilderness.

The area’s rough terrain meant the plane couldn’t drop him at any of the proposed drilling sites he wanted to document. So Hensel had to backpack through the refuge, carrying what he said was around 90 pounds of equipment. (HEATED could not independently verify this number).

For 10 days, Hensel filmed the trek through ANWR’s isolated tundra and icy waters, a difficult task for the most advanced