The Supreme Court as Guardian of the Environment: The \u3cem\u3eMetropolitan Edison\u3c/em\u3e Decision in Perspective

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that the National Environmental Policy Act does not require the consideration of psychological health impacts resulting from the fear of an accident at a nuclear generating facility. This Comment places the Court\u27s recent decision within the framework of past decisions which have excluded the courts as arbiters of substantive questions of environmental policy. By eliminating from environmental regulation the broad policy issues manifested by public fear of the proposed activity, the Court has strengthened the effectiveness of the regulatory scheine as a tool for the protection of the physical environment