I'm extrapolating decades of hate for anything anti-environmental to the Elliott issue. 

 After years of 'proposed sales' for anything more than a toothpick from public or private lands resulting in the nasty,  threatening, hateful and potentially deadly eco-terrorists, eco-Nazis and eco-jihadists, it's pretty easy to prefer 'sell it and move on' as a public policy.  

Go kill or release some minks. (ALF)   Burn up some cars and trucks and ski resorts.  (ELF)  Damage some ships.  (Greenpeace)  Attack some other ships (Sea Shepherd)  9th Circuit Opinion:  "You don’t need a peg leg or an eye patch.  When you ram ships; hurl glass
containers of acid; drag metal-reinforced ropes in the water to damage propellers
and rudders; launch smoke bombs and flares with hooks; and point high-powered
lasers at other ships, you are, without a doubt, a pirate, no matter how high-minded
you believe your purpose to be."

Eco-Nazis.  Eco-terrorists. Eco-jihadists.  Yup! too easy on these slime-balls!