Amy Coney Barrett, the president’s Supreme Court nominee, was asked about climate change during Senate confirmation hearings. She responded
that she’s “not a scientist” and has no “firm views” on the topic. The
Supreme Court could play a big role in determining whether the federal
government is able to mount a serious response to the climate crisis; as
Marianne Lavelle wrote recently for InsideClimate News, activists are
worried the court’s landmark 2007 climate ruling could be in danger.
Wikipedia pic from 2018 Amy Coney Barrett
"But with Senator Kamala Harris of
California, the Democratic 
Photo from Alliance for Justice
candidate for vice president, Judge Barrett,
the daughter of an oil executive, went further. She described the
settled science of climate change as still in dispute, compared to Ms.
Harris’s other examples, including whether smoking causes cancer and the
coronavirus is infectious.
“Do you believe that climate change is happening and threatening the air we breathe and the water that we drink?” Ms. Harris asked.
Judge Barrett responded, “You asked me uncontroversial questions, like Covid-19 being infectious or if smoking causes cancer” to solicit “an opinion from me on a very contentious matter of public debate,” climate change.
“I will not do that,” Judge Barrett concluded. “I will not express a view on a matter of public policy, especially one that is politically controversial.”
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