[smoldesu]

Well, what SpaceX is doing doesn't really matter. I can't just show up to Arkansas and say I'm fracking for oil to cure cancer and get hand-waved through. They're private entities, no matter what they're doing, and they're subject to the same scrutiny that everyone else puts up with.

[lazide]

That is ideally how it is supposed to work, but there are many examples of regulations being bypassed and other folks being stepped on to get a desired employer or a potentially lucrative investment into a place.

It doesn’t sound like it is happening here necessarily, but it does happen pretty frequently.

[ESGHound]

This is not true at all. Doubly not true when your program is subsidized by Federal dollars and takes place adjacent to protected federal lands.

The FAA is subject to NEPA review, and hence any SpaceX activity in this area must go through the same process as every other industrial activity that impacts federal interests.

[randy408]

Surely you know by now that Elon/SpaceX will get its fuel no matter what, even if it means trucking the fuel there, seems to me your best case scenario will increase net emissions.

Protecting the environment is not the point of this stunt, is it?

[smoldesu]

Well my cancer cure is subsidized by federal dollars, and our headquarters is right next to the post office. Can't we just start drilling already?