I think the “crux” is that, while policy is good to have, it’s fundamentally a short-term delaying advantage. The stuff will get built eventually no matter what, and any delay you can create before it’s built won’t really be significant compared to the time after it’s built. So if you have any belief that you might be able to improve the outcome when-not-if it’s built, that kind of dominates.
I think the “crux” is that, while policy is good to have, it’s fundamentally a short-term delaying advantage. The stuff will get built eventually no matter what, and any delay you can create before it’s built won’t really be significant compared to the time after it’s built. So if you have any belief that you might be able to improve the outcome when-not-if it’s built, that kind of dominates.