Local communities in various places (especially in Pennsylvania and Ohio) have been passing “Community Rights Ordinances” to assert local democratic control and protect their local environments. Some outside businesses react with lawsuits against the local pro-democracy ordinances, and they demand to be paid for “lost profits.”
See information about the legal basis for these local efforts to protect local democracy and local environments at www.celdf.org
See information about this particular local case at https://celdf.org/grant-township-the-right-to-profit/
My April 2014 TV program explores this exciting opportunity. That episode’s title is “Strengthen Democracy with a Community Rights Ordinance (CRO).” Watch the interview and/or read a summary of what we said at this link: http://parallaxperspectives.org/tv-strengthen-democracy-with-a-community-rights-ordinance-cro