UNITED STATES – OCTOBER 13: Supreme Court justice nominee Amy Coney Barrett testifies during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. (Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call)
Supreme Court nominee Amy Cony Barrett revealed some of her thoughts about climate change in questioning from U.S. Senators this week.
Barrett was asked about climate change, telling the Senate panel: “I’m certainly not a scientist. … I’ve read things about climate change. I would not say I have firm views on it.”
POLITICO reported Evergreen Action campaign director Jamal Raad said in response Americans can’t afford to add a “climate denier” to the high court. “A nominee without ‘firm views’ on climate science should be firmly viewed as unqualified for the Supreme Court,” Raad added in a statement.
Invoking both the Waters of the United States rule and the Renewable Fuel Standard in questioning from Ernst on agency rulemaking, Barrett was also asked about how agencies should interpret laws passed by Congress.
“When a court reviews whether an agency has exceeded its lawful authority, it goes to the statute that you in Congress enact, and interprets that statute, looks at the text, and tries to tell whether you’ve given the agency, given the EPA in your example, leeway to adopt policies. … But if the agency goes farther than the text of the statute permits, then it is the role of a court to say that that action was in conflict with the statute, and therefore illegal,” Barrett said.
Source: POLITICO
