IMO CSG is not doomed however it may face far more environmental authority oversight than it has to date enjoyed.
In April 2011 the USA Congress "re-introduced the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals or FRAC Act. This bill would remove the exemption that hydraulic fracturing was given under a previous federal law, and possibly require an environmental review before a well is fractured."
In all likelihood we will head that way. The ground swell of public opinion is so large and growing that there in all likelihood will see greater political intervention than companies would like.
This may hold future consequences for BHP, given their USA acquisitions. There is a lot of interest/concern in CSG and FRACing, although this may take years to get resolved. I also hold stock in ORG based on their CSG and new pipeline, so this is of interest to me.
I posted part of this in WPL thread. LNG is 2.4 times the density of CSG in energy conversion therefore cheaper to transport.
IMO at this stage it makes companies with LNG as a preferable investment at this stage. One of the reasons I bought WPL as well.
I think CSG will go ahead, but it is in for a rough ride and won't proceed to expand at or in the present open slather manner. Companies like ORG who already have a large base in place have an advantage.
