However, environmentalists are concerned about the potential impact on the natural resources to which the stepping stairs are meant to provide access. Another concern that has been expressed is that the project would facilitate the drug trade by providing better transportation infrastructure and money laundering opportunities. Some analysts also question whether the tourist market is really large enough to support the 8,000 new boat slips and 68 complete golf courses plotted in the project. Taken together, these considerations have led to pondering that the Escalera N utica might really be a scheme for intensive land speculation. The skepticism has spawned an important mobilization of civil society organizations.
Some groups plan to oppose the project.
Others are preparing to provide critiques, in hopes of pushing it to include the best practices of sustainable development. These groups hope to see Mexico apply its environmental laws and enforce the decrees that have established three biosphere reserves in the area. They also want to prevent harmful fishing and protect the islands in the gulf. Members of Mexico's Chamber of Deputies are reviewing potential impacts of the project in discussions in the congressional commissions on Tourism and Ecology. Many more debates over the project's economic, environmental, and social impact are in the offing.