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Brett Kavanaugh anti environment record of Patrice Simms of Earth Justice Cannon Center Field of the League of Conservation Voters Courtney Height of the Sierra Club Democracy Program and Chris King of Demand Justice we're here today to speak in a unified voice in opposition to the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to serve as an associate Justice on the United States Supreme All Americans should be very worried about what Justice Brett Kavanaugh would mean to our air, our water our land, our health in our climate As a judge on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals for more than a decade, Brett Kavanaugh has consistently opposed strong environmental protections We know Judge Kavanaugh track record on the environment and it is a climate catastrophe In a 2012 case, Judge Kavanaugh argued unsuccessfully that the Clean Air act the landmark Safeguarding Americans from any air pollutant covers only some hazardous air pollutants and not greenhouse gases, nonsensical interpretation of the Clean Air Act that would endanger the clean power plan In a 2014 case Judge Kavanaugh tried to overturn e admission standards for hazardous air pollutants from power plants because the had not properly considered the cost to polluters Yes His hands focus Judge Kavanaugh was more concerned about protecting the polluters than he was about protecting the public health and the list of bad rulings continues in a 2016 case, Judge Kavanaugh would have erected hurdles to make it easier for polluters to harm municipal water supplies shellfish beds and fishery areas In a 2017 case Judge Kavanaugh supported big oils interest in delaying rules that would limit dangerous methane emissions from drilling in another 2017 Case Judge Kavanaugh sided with chemical manufacturers who wanted to use keep using dangerous heat trapping hydro floral cabins that contribute to global warming This list of anti environment anti climate decisions is enough to make Scott Pruitt jealous so based on these types of decisions and judge Kavanaugh other judicial opinions we should be very concerned that one That's Court Justice Kavanaugh would argue that the is too aggressive and that its aggressiveness must be curved Two Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh would seek to curb the fcc's ability to regulate on water air the environment by ruling that Congress does not have the right to regulate environmental issues across state lines and three that Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh will look for ways to dismiss cases brought by States and organizations seeking to compel the government in industry to act to protect citizens and the environment this especially Would be devastating for our environment The American people organizations and our States often have a strong case on important environmental issues who gets to sue on climate change If Justice Kavanaugh has his way no one will be able to do that big polluters a cheering the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh because they know he will have their backs They know that through Brett Kavanaugh they may finally have a shot at their ultimate Dream of chipping away at the Seminole case on Climate Massachusetts versus the E Years ago the Supreme Court decided in Massachusetts versus e that the federal government must act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions The case is the basis for the clean power Plan historic fuel economy and emission standards and controls on methane leaks from oil and gas operations Massachusetts versus E is the most important decision ever to regulate climate change emissions and it is settled law but there is nothing Oil King Cole and corporate polluters want more than to turn the Supreme Court's model from equal Justice under the law to justices under corporate influence That's. Why we have to stand up and say no The Supreme Court is no place for someone like Judge Brett Kavanaugh who wants to move us backwards on key climate public health environmental protections So we thank you all for being here and now let me turn and recognize our leader on the I am at Committee Tom Carper from Delaware Thank you I'm Happy to be here with senators, Marky and White House were happy to be with our friends, and including folks from the Legal Conservation Voters Earth Justice Sierra Club demand, Justice and others that are in the room I I'm Gonna go off script for a for a minute if I can Number of years ago, there was a distinguished, a highly distinguished judge from Dallas, James Walter Stapleton and he was a District court judge, a Republican. But a moderate, thoughtful almost like a Mike Castle a Republican health served as a District court judge later to to to leave the Third District Court of Appeal and then Delaware Yours. Presidency is a giant is a giant and any number of Young attorneys have clock for judge table that we still live to today one of those Was you Brett Kavanaugh And when Brett Kavanaugh was nominated by then President Bush among the people that I spoke what's new consulted with which what kind of federal judge would Brett Kavanaugh make was Judge Stapleton and frankly with other people who clerk for Judge Stapleton, who knew Brett Kavanaugh and ultimately, I joined maybe a dozen or so Democrats to vote in favor of closure on a nomination of Brett Kavanaugh and ultimately with three other Democrats to vote in favor of his confirmation I known then what I know now about what he would do in the next 12 years not just with environmental issues, but a whole host of other issues. I would not support his nomination It is highly unlikely that I will do so this time That he's already said it. But I'm gonna shade it a little differently if I could Brett Kavanaugh as the next Scott Pruitt Brett Kavanaugh job will be to make sure that the legacy of Scott food, rather than fading away from us, is It's preserved That's, the bad News The good news, however, is that this nomination can be defeated If He's confirmed to serve on the Supreme Court Mister Kavanaugh Justice Kavanaugh will be able to finish the work that Scott food started Well, Justice Kennedy was nobody's estimation, a true environmental champion heat or sometimes a pragmatic conservative on these issues And if Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed fruits and I environment agenda will continue this time with the way to our nation's highest court behind it Scott Pruitt was hostile to the great mission of the two of us, far hard, along with our colleagues to deny him. Confirmation got close did not succeed. We joined hands with many of you to try to make sure you hold them accountable and to make sure that the people who the truth about him remind him. Not how effort ethically Brett was. But how often he was on a whole host of environmental issues But he was hospital very mission of the Brett Judge Kavanaugh meanwhile, in the last 12 years, is struck down protections for clean air for clean water for average to fight climate change, often as result of lawsuits filed by Guess who former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt or policies pursued by Pruitt as Epa administrator Just last year just last year Scott prod attempted to delay rules to limit methane emissions and he found a receptive audience in Judge Brett Kavanaugh who decided with Scott Pruitt in the fossil fuel industry This guy protest decide despite giving lip service to cooperative federalism He repeatedly tonight, States the ability to combat pollutants that blow into down wind States like ours like ours Judge Kavanaugh has similarly rejected good neighbor regulations As Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Prewitt fly, they lost two challenging Mercury regulations Judge Kavanaugh agreed with Pruitt She can do severely limited authorities to regulate toxic emissions under the Clean Air Act The silver lining here is that the American people overwhelmingly rejected Scott Pruitt and his agenda overwhelmingly last year My Democratic colleagues and I either with several Republican centers defeated Donald Trump's pick to lead the A's Chemical Office. Michael Dorsey Thank you for your help who spent his career promoting less protective chemical safety standards earlier Year, we also took down the nomination of Kathleen Hart of White He had the White House Council on environmental quality after we exposed to sustain for basic facts inside they were ultimately rejected because they had a handful of environmental positions that proved to be real deal breakers for Republican senators Sadly Judge Kavanaugh, his record on the environment, is a compilation of those same extreme positions When the American people and the senators who represent them fully understand what's at stake then we have a chance We have a fighting chance But Judge Kavanaugh concerning record I'm saying. We have a chance a chance that we intend to take I don't know many words of Latin towards I know Carpe Diem and Delaware. We say carpet but this is time to seize the day and Carper Dam all the way And without children Wales Thank you we can look at Brett Kavanaugh through a very narrow aperture and witness the sorted spectacle of subservience to polluting interests And that is one of the reasons that we are here today, because he presents that exact spectacle of subservience We can also widen the aperture just a little bit and look at this whole nomination process through which Brett Kavanaugh is coming to the court It begins in a behind closed doors process moderated by the Federalist Society in which the Polluting special interest are given the opportunity to give or withhold their blessing to the nominee We don't know anything about that. That is a secret behind closed door federal society moderated process Then he comes forward and a dark money campaign funded by unknown anonymous donors in the tens of millions of dollars ramps up to expedite his confirmation and we know nothing about those donors and their motivation Once he's on the court I predict that there will be a whole array of special interest front groups who appear before the court as so called friends Emmy Key America's Curie and give Mister Kavanaugh instruction on what it is that those people who cleared him at the beginning and lobby for him in the Middle now on him to do on the court and what you see at the end will be a continuation of the more than two dozen five to four decisions in which the court has Divided on partisan lines to deliver big wins for big Republican special interests and interestingly to those of us who are lawyers very often trampling conservative judicial principles on their way to delivering big wins for Republican special interests So there is every reason to be gravely concerned about Brett Kavanaugh and I'm delighted with senator marquee for hosting this press conference and for our leader on the Environment, Public Works Committee Senator Carper for Report and I will turn it over now to Patricia Sims device President for litigation at Earth Justice At her comments his comments sorry Thank you senators. I think what We've heard from the senator so far illustrates. I think how Brett Kavanaugh rulings over the years have consistently minimize the impacts, minimize the value of the environment and protecting public health Made those entrance interests subservient to the interests of the corporate bottom line I wanna make a note about something that I think is perhaps even more insidious just not the individual cases on environmental issues which have again and again undermine environmental protections of water and air and of course climate But I wanna talk about briefly judge Cavanaugh view of juris prudence in the role of the courts In fact one of the things that is fundamentally disturbing is the idea that he would like to change the very rules of the game for federal agencies and the rule of the game for courts to make it more difficult for the public to participate in important decision making that affects their health that affects the water, they drink and the air they breathe and the environment that they live in he would make it more difficult change. The Rules again to make it more difficult for people to hold agencies accountable for their decision, making for them to take those agencies to court when they break the law making it more difficult for the public for people for you and I to make sure that we are able to hold our government accountable to the law that it is meant to follow He would make agency decision making more politicized again changing the rules making sure that the agencies and the decision making processes are more thoroughly under the thumb of the President A more politicized process means more politicized decision making and decision, making that even more influenced by corporate money and power and he would make again by changing the rules ensure that the courts were obligated To interpret agency authority under statutes in the narrowest possible way limiting what they're capable of doing to protect health clean air clean water and the environment these issues Affect our health effect the planet we live in and will affect generations to come not because of individual cases which certainly there will be bad ones. There would be bad ones but because of changing the fundamental rules and changing how our both are our democracy in terms of our government agencies and the rules with respect to how the courts are able to hold agencies and our government accountable and the role that you are the role that the public gets to play in ensuring the accountability the Fundamental threats are what's at stake and it is incumbent upon all of us to stand up take notice and insure that we do not allow this to occur Next 10 Center Field from Legal Conservation Wolf Thank you, Senator Marky and thank you, Senator Whitehouse and Senator Carper for your incredible leadership Standing up to Scott Pruitt Day after day. And now for your wonderful leadership on Brett Kavanaugh, I think It's absolutely fair to say that Brett Kavanaugh is the new Scott Pruitt I'm here today on behalf of the League of Conservation voters more than two million members and of course also on behalf of all people in this country who want to breathe clean air who want to drink clean water We want to protect our public lands and wildlife and who want to fight the climate crisis instead of Meeting someone who will uphold the environmental laws that protect our air our water, our lands or wildlife and our climate President Trump has nominated an extremist who is repeatedly come down on the side of big polluters at the expense of the public interest Instead of protecting clean air and clean water. For all he has blocked the state from doing its job Kavanaugh has ruled to put more mercury and toxic air pollutants into our air and to make it harder to address climate change There is simply no overstating how high the environmental stakes are in this Supreme Court fight as senator He talked about Justice Kennedy was the deciding vote in that historic 54 Mass versus finding that the Clean Air Act covers the pollution fueling climate change and his opinion in a landmark 2000 and case 2006 case paved the way for the clean water rule which protects the water of one in three people in this country If Justice Kavanaugh excuse me if Justice Kennedy seat is filled by kavanaugh we can bet that industry and conservative organizations will challenge the very environmental protections that can be voted to uphold as extreme And dangerous as kavanaugh, it is this isn't, just about him This week alone, Senator Mcconnell is moving two nominations. We strongly oppose Andrew Oldham for the fifth Circuit who called the fundamentally illegitimate and Ryan Bounds who, if confirmed would be the first judge in hundred one year history of the Blue Slip Who's confirmed over the objections of both home state senators and, of course, the ninth Circuit is hugely important for protecting the environment It is more Than ever that we keep an anti environmental extremists off the High Court and off of all of our courts The rights of all people in this country to breathe clean air to drink clean water and to participate equity in equitably in our democracy depend on this strongly urges the Senate to oppose the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh and we are all in on this fight Thank you Thank you next to Courtney Hike director of the Sierra Club Democracy Program Hello, everybody I am here representing Sierra clubs over three million members and supporters the current political climate, perhaps demonstrates better than ever that in order to protect our air water and climate we need a fair and fully functioning democracy The Supreme Court and all three like all three branches of our government should be representative of the American people and their views not corporations and billionaires The American people want a court that will protect access to affordable health care The American people want a court that will continue to guarantee women can make decisions about our health and our bodies and the American people want a court that will put our clean Air and water above corporate polluters and billionaires profits But instead Donald Trump has nominated a right wing idea. Log Brett Kavanaugh in decision after decision kavanaugh record shows that he will back the right of corporations and millionaires to pollute over the right of the public to breathe, clean air drink, clean water and live in safe communities at every chance he gets with kavanaugh and even more extreme support. Supreme Court will threaten our nation's bedrock public health and environmental laws like the Clean Air Act the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act in decision After decision, Brett Kavanaugh has taken steps to gut government agencies and diminish their ability to carry out their missions to protect our air and water communities consumers workers workers and the most vulnerable among us We mentioned multiple cases before. But to highlight a couple the Mexican floor incorporated versus Kavanaugh exposed his consistent inclination to block the authority of the E and invalidate crucial environmental safeguards An Emmy homer city generation Pcs versus P Kavanaugh demonstrated He will dismantle e ability to tighten environmental standards Brett Kavanaugh trump's, far right, extremist pick for the Supreme Court, threatens the fundamental values of our constitution was designed to protect That's. Why the Sierra Club is partnering with environmental organizations, civil rights groups everyone here across the country to oppose trump's extreme pick Thank you excellent and finally Chris Kang Cheap Council for Demand Justice. Thank you, Chris Thank you, Senator Judge Nomination is about a week old and obviously the focus so far has been on his record as being anti healthcare anti-hero and thinking that Trump is above the law But those are by no means the only issues at stake here northerly the only important issues Just Kavanaugh has one of the most extreme conservative records of any judge on the court. Don't take it from us, take it from his very clerk sue in the weekend before he was nominated, went out to tow his conservative record and we believe that his record of extremism across the board is all the more Reason to oppose him not as some media pundits and critics might suggest evidence of a lack of message strategy on the part of people who post them If you're looking for the message It's this judge Kavanaugh is a narrow minded elitist who rule for corporations, the powerful and the wealthy over ordinary citizens every single time and his record on that is no more clear than it is with respect to the environment time and time again, he has struck down regulations that would protect clean air and clean water He has close the courthouse doors to ordinary citizens while Bring them wide for industry to attack regulations look Senator White House talked about the process in which Judge Kavanaugh was put on this this special interest list of nominees he wasn't on the original list he wasn't on President Trump's second list look at what he did to get himself there time and time again he ruled in the most conservative way possible he issued he gave a speech praising Justice rank was dissent in Roe versus Wade and similarly with respect to the environment just weeks before he was added to the short list he gave a speech criticizing the Chevron doctrine Which is patricia's mentioned is critical to upholding all of our federal agency regulations These are the things that he's done to get on this list These are the issues that we have to continue to press and I will also know this is just the record that we know about him. So far The Bush presidential library has one million pages of documents that have to come out about his time and his service in the Bush administration and we believe that those should critical light on the way he views all of these issues including potentially issues with respect to the environment and so That's why I demand Justice is proud to be part of this coalition fighting for the Government fighting for all of these critical issues in order to feed just capitals nomination Thank you excellent Thank you. So thank you all questions Thank you we're ready to say one last thing We've we've heard the number I started it. Judge Kavanaugh. Next Scott Pruitt Scott Pruitt was awful on environmental issues air water public health there's also Brett with respect of ethical moral misconduct lack of stewardship and being fiscally responsible Those are issues. We know nothing about with respect to to to this judge and this nominee But we do have 12 years that shows what he has done and what he would do on environmental issues are important to all of all of us Scott When you get nominated to be a you're there for a couple years before yours or this is a lifetime appointment Usually one is not gonna go away and three or four years at the end of the administration This one is gonna be with us for a long long time I know some people who think that we're what we're doing is doing a little bit of a hail Mary I don't see it that way this is a town but I did sports analogy if I could a couple of guys from care about sports come from places where sports are important but we're in a town where hockey is a big deal this year Maybe the best hockey player ever around scared the ice was a guy named Wayne Gretzky Wayne Gretzky was used to take a lot of shots on goal and he was asked some time ago in Mister Gracie. Why do you take all these shots on goal and he replied he said I missed every shot I never took I missed every shot I never took there's some people who think there's a little bit of an uphill battle But we're gonna. Take the shine were to take the shot and we do not intend to miss thank you Masters Come on what's your fear on I guess up here. Obviously is that they will find a narrowing case to limit the ability of a state or citizens to bring a case in the same way that we're concerned with the the Texas case that is percolating up on the question of a woman's right to choose even if they don't this rate the underlying law Find ways in which the rights of a petitioners can be limited of that goes to the question of standing who has the right to sue It goes to the role of an administrative agency to interpret the rules the more narrow they view. It is the more dangerous it will be It goes to the question of the interpretation of statutes amongst other things, and so they will find ways in which any further action by the Or other agencies for that matter will be delimited, so we we We know that he'll be waiting for the opportunity as he will be We think on a woman's right to choose And that is why we are here and why we are ready to fight trying to get also, the Democratic strategy all opposed his nomination Yeah obviously you know the case about where is the environment where where does it rank on that Well, there were many swing voters across the country who clearly cast a vote for him, believing that a woman's right to choose or by a mental laws consumer protection laws were settled law and they did not have to vote there before they could give a chance to Donald Trump to come in we're going to make clear to them is that That's a very risky proposition of that loading up the Supreme, quit loading up the federal court system Down below sets up challenges to existing interpretation of law that could have devastating longterm consequences for that suburban swing voter who decided to give Donald Trump a chance they thought everything was protected and maybe they'll get a tax cut That's. Not the case They might get a small tax cut but they also get an an elimination of public health and safety rules that they felt were guaranteed Endangered Species Act, we can go down the whole let's. Just understand this Justice. Kennedy in almost every decision cast the right vote on environmental decision since 1987 Just think about that okay, so we have a long tradition. Maybe a hundred cases long where Justice Kennedy was on one side It's highly predictable that Brett Kavanaugh will be on the opposite side of those decisions. I mean mention mentioned. Other Clean Air Act has a section called section 126 sexual Six says that, somebody that has a power plant we'll see in Pennsylvania higher West Virginia, Indiana Tennessee Virginia that burns Cole puts it up into the air pushing into the air, and it blows over on the restaurants on the East Coast, where we live in what I call the end of america's tail pipe the law provides for Stretch to petition to stop that pollution from upwind States are blowing on to the Downwind States This is basically said to Massachusetts Delaware, Maryland Bunch of States on East Coast Go Pack, San I Don't care what the law says go back in without an opportunity to see what Judge Kavanaugh would do in part of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals on this issue and I don't wanna see secured sex stick around and just wait to see what he would do nationally If You're, a member of the Supreme Court thank you S between such in Kavanaugh, Chevron is now in Japan there's. No question about it It's been a longstanding philosophy of kavanaugh that too much different task given Agencies and that goes right to the heart of the Chevron case and We'll see that over and over again in his decisions in the past is the sense in the past So without question, Chevron now is in play and we have to translate that into That they understand not the Chevron doctor What standing is on what what any of these other technical legal terms up but goes to who can sue What is the harm they're suing for Why would we be afraid that Brett Kavanaugh and Jut Justice goes such would not get released and people. We have to translate it into an issue into English for Peoples, who are suburban swing voters in our country We think we can do it Thanks everyone
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