questions from a newbie

I am a real newbie to this share trading business and was hoping some of you could answer some questions for me in relation to MEL and other coal seam gas companies.
If the government does happen to ban coal seam gas exploration does that mean MEL would go belly up and investors lose their money or would the company be able to rely on other methods to produce their gas?
I presume a ban on coal seam gas would also mean the company was far less likely to be taken over?
I realise these are probably pretty basic questions but was hoping some of you more experienced investors could shed some light.
Cheers