DV look at the issue deeper as it was something about the enviro impact assessment done by a subsidiary of one of the companies or company riding herd on the show. The alternate your talking about was not pushed as ............. got me as it resolved the conflict but more than likely money and time. This is just the first of many squabbles as economics drive a new self sufficient energy policy. Everything we do has risk and impacts but we can not afford to drive our currency down paying for imported oil which whacks out our balance of payments as we do now. If you look at enviro risk the present administration has returned to the same policies as the preveous three well four really, in fact Gulf drilling is wide open and in high risk areas more than ever.

Best way of putting it I have seen is a blogger who defined the next decades energy policies as one of " risk management. " A rather interesting definition.