Environmentalists were appalled—if not necessarily surprised—by Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s statement Tuesday that she does not “have firm views” on climate change, an ostensibly neutral comment that critics said is tantamount to denial of the science.
“This has been the standard, canned answer that climate deniers have given for years. But now it’s 2020. We’re in a pandemic. You don’t need to be a scientist to be able to listen to scientists.”
—Eric Holthaus
“Quite simply, if you’re neutral on climate change, you’re complicit in the collapse of the planetary ecosystem upon which the survival of every living thing depends,” meteorologist Eric Holthaus wrote late Tuesday in response to Barrett’s remarks.
Asked by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.)—an outspoken opponent of bold climate action—whether she has “opinions” on climate change, Barrett said during Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that she is “certainly not a scientist.”
“I mean, I’ve read things about climate change,” the judge added. “I would not say that I […]
I’m confused by this reaction. I listened to most of the ACB hearings and saw an amazingly intelligent person with very deep legal knowledge sitting in from a a group of senators honestly answering questions. Many of the Senators were very hostile but she maintained her composure — something that having children probably helped with. The hostility was mostly misplaced — it was not about her ability and qualifications to do the job.
Her answer, to me, was exactly what you should want in a judge. What she told you was that she hadn’t pre-decided an issue and felt it was something scientists would need to determine. In other testimony she explained how she would approach a case to make a determination. That makes sense to me.
Her statements and her record show that she is not an “activist judge” — that is a judge who thinks she is a legislator. While I disagree with some of her personal views I feel confident that she can fairly perform the job of a judge. If you want specific climate change legislation, you need to talk to your Congresscritters, not a judge.