I think you fail to understand that environmental protection is...

I think you fail to understand that environmental protection is about stopping the environmantal damage. The EPA would not give a hoot about the number of jobs. They will just fail to issue a license for acid leach if they consider it not environmentally sound. If PEN want to continue to carbonate leach which they did the work for to prove environmentally sound that would be fine.

Your linkage of political bias is flawed and an opinion. As I've said elsewhere I suspect PEN will do the requisite work and gain the approval but to strongly assert it due to political bias if fanciful. You might as well say they could bribe the EPA. It's your opinion. Coincides with mine but an opinion. The facts have yet to be proven and the submission made and accepted, rejected or accepted with conditions.

HC is great for people asserting 'practically no chance' of things happening and then them happening.
In fact, management claimed the same with the effectiveness of the carbonate leach until it didn't work commercially profitably. Yes, all those others in Wyoming carbonate leach.