I assembled these interchanges between Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Judge Amy Coney Barrett and Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) and Barrett at the Senate Supreme Court confirmation hearings from multiple sources. I am not sure of the exact sequence, but the questions and answers are accurate. Barrett has been a federal judge for only three years so has virtually no judicial record. Barrett’s father, Michael E. Coney, was an attorney for Shell Oil and an active member of the American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas trade organization that challenges the science behind climate change. Climate activist Greta Thunberg tweeted a response after Barrett’s testimony.
Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA): "If a case that comes before you would require you to consider scientific evidence, my question is will you defer to scientists and those with expertise in the relevant issues before rendering a judgment?"
Judge Amy Coney Barrett: "If a case comes before me involving environmental regulation, I will certainly apply all applicable law deferring when the law requires me to."
Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA): Do you accept that COVID-19 is infectious?
Judge Amy Coney Barrett: Yes, I do accept COVID-19 is infectious...it's an obvious fact
Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA): Do you accept that smoking causes cancer?
Judge Amy Coney Barrett: I'm not sure exactly where you're going with this . . . Yes, every package [of] cigarettes warns that smoking causes cancer . . . You have asked me a series of questions that are completely uncontroversial . . . and then trying to analogize that to elicit an opinion from me that is on a very contentious matter of public debate and I will not do that. I will not express a view on a matter of public policy, especially one that is politically controversial.
Senator Kamala Harris (CA): Thank you Judge Barrett. You've made your point clear that you believe it's a debatable point.
Senator John Kennedy (R-LA): “My colleagues seem to think you’re only qualified if you’re dumb, if you have a blank slate, if you’ve never thought about the world. You’ve thought about the world, haven’t you?”
Judge Amy Coney Barrett: “I’ve read about climate change.”
Senator John Kennedy (R-LA): “And you have some opinions on climate change that you’ve thought about?”
Judge Amy Coney Barrett: “I’m certainly not a scientist. I would not say that I have firm views on it,”
Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg on Twitter: “To be fair, I don’t have any ‘views on climate change’ either. Just like I don’t have any ‘views’ on gravity, the fact that the earth is round, photosynthesis nor evolution . . . But understanding and knowing their existence really makes life in the 21st century so much easier.”
Follow Alan Singer on twitter at https://twitter.com/AlanJSinger1