DNC Climate Council Statement on President Trump’s Supreme Court Nomination

Statement from Michelle Deatrick, Founder and Chair of the DNC Council on the Environment and Climate Crisis, on President Trump’s Supreme Court Nomination: 

“The climate crisis is here. Combating it will be the challenge of our lifetime. To win this fight, we need leaders at all levels and in all branches of government who are ready to confront this existential threat to the future of every American. Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the highest court in our nation confirms that this administration is once again choosing to side with polluters, not people, endangering any progress we’ve made in fighting this crisis.

Donald Trump remains a climate denier. And unlike Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Amy Coney Barrett has no record of using her immense powers on the bench to prevent any of this administration’s attacks on environmental protections. Instead, Barrett could be the final vote needed to end the federal government’s authority to regulate carbon emissions, overruling a landmark decision for environmental protections.

Confirmation of this nominee would risk not only decades’ worth of environmental protections supported by Justice Ginsburg, but our hope that a brighter and more sustainable future can be achieved. Mrs. Barrett’s time on the Supreme Court could last decades. And unfortunately, as Americans continue to face wildfire and toxic air in the West and record hurricanes pummeling the South, we know our planet doesn’t have that kind of time.”