It took a lot of guts to buck politically appointed management and do the right thing, but personally, I'm not surprised. The NPS/NFS personnel I met during PATH's EIS scoping meetings impressed me with their honesty, dedication, fairness and steadfast determination to do the right thing without undue influence from either the applicants or the public. Their impartiality made PATH's antics during the public meetings even more incongruous. PATH's desperate attempts to curry favor with the NPS and intimidate the citizens attendees did not escape the notice of the Park Service personnel.
However, as Bill points out, this is only the DRAFT EIS for the S-R Project. The final recommendation won't be made until the end of next year. Comments from S-R parent companies indicate that the political arm-twisting has hardly just begun and these arrogant corporate thieves think they have approval of their preferred alternative (which is also the most damaging to the environment of the parks) all sewn up. However, the NJ BPU approval of the project is currently being appealed, and the BPU has had a recent change of heart regarding viable solutions to NJ's high electricity prices. Anything can happen in a year. Someone needs to start watchdogging PPL & PSEG's project spending through their FERC Formula Rate Annual Updates to prevent power company "inducements" (aka bribery) from influencing the final EIS at ratepayer expense.
Meanwhile, show your thanks to the brave NPS employees who did the right thing with the draft EIS, despite pressure from upper management, by submitting your comments in support of the "No Build" alternative. You can submit your comments online here (click on "Comment on Document").
Thank you, NPS!