RE:Pebble could shape arctic mineral development. Good artcile for anyone who doesn't know the regulatory backstory, but besides being dated, it's clearly biased. (Not surprising, considering the source.)
It virtually ignores the two main points of contention: Did the EPA illegally or unethically intervene in the regulatory process by colluson with opponents of the mine?...And, more important in the grand scheme of things, should the Federal Government have the authority to preemptively veto a project on State-approved land without the developer having the opportunity to submit a proposal that potentially mitigates the negative impacts?
This is in large part an issue of State's Rights. If the EPA is going to have this preemptive power, it should draw up a comprehensive map of no-go zones and instruct the States not to allow development there, and do it before companies come in and spend hundreds of millions of dollars advancing projects that are - unbeknownst to them - doomed from the start.
As others here have pointed out, if the EPA ban is upheld, it will cast a chill (pun intended) over development in the State of Alaska for decades, assuming it hasn't already. That's why even some opponents of the project are concerned about the precedent set by the effort to stop it.