Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Tuesday night said that she doesn’t have “firm views” on climate change when pressed on the issue during her confirmation hearing.
Sen. John Kennedy
John Neely KennedyMORE (R-La.) asked the nominee what she thinks about a series of issues, including climate change.
“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?” Kennedy asked.
She affirmed that she had.
Kennedy then asked her about nuclear energy, affirmative action and climate change.
“I’ve read about climate change,” Barrett said.
“And you have some opinions on climate change that you’ve thought about?” Kennedy asked.
“I’m certainly not a scientist,” Barrett replied, using a refrain Republicans have said repeatedly on the subject.
“I’ve read things about climate change. I would not say that I have firm views on it,” she replied.
The vast majority of scientists believe that climate change is occurring and human-caused.
During the line of questioning, Barrett later said that her opinions weren’t relevant to court decisions.
“You’ve formed opinions about the delivery of health care. Should you recuse yourself?” Kennedy asked, referring to a case on the Affordable Care Act that will soon be heard by the high court.
“Everyone has opinions. Any opinions that I have are just not relevant to the resolution of a case, Affordable Care Act case or anything else,” Barrett said.
