Cindy Carr, cindy.carr@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, during the third day of her confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett twice refused to acknowledge and accept the reality of the climate crisis. Following her remarks yesterday that she is “not a scientist” and “has no firm views” on climate change, today she expanded to say she is “not competent to opine on what causes global warming or not,” doesn’t think that her “views on global warming or climate change are relevant to the job I would do as a judge,” and called climate change a “very contentious matter of public debate.”
The climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and 97% of climate scientists have reached consensus on its cause. Experts predict that the unprecedented hurricanes, droughts, and wildfires that have ravaged the United States have cost billions of dollars in damage this year alone. The Supreme Court is responsible for bedrock environmental laws like the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Court is already slated to hear at least one case on the climate crisis in the next term.
In response, Sierra Club Democracy Program Director Courtney Hight released the following statement:
"You either accept science or reject it. Amy Coney Barrett repeatedly refusing to accept climate science further proves that she is unfit to serve on the Supreme Court, and the Senate must reject her nomination, full stop.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.