A Legal Blow To Sustainable Development

The Supreme Court has ruled on a case that will it make it difficult for local communities to approve development projects with contingencies on the developer to mitigate harmful effects on the environment.  The 5-4 decision will leave local governments the choice of dismissing the proposal or accepting it without contingencies.  This will prevent many worthwhile projects from being approved or it will be harmful to communities which must absorb the mitigation costs.  This is just another example of a conservative Supreme Court usurping the authority of elected officials.  The court has imposed the standards established in a separate court decision, that it approves of, on local communities.