Perdue, Loeffler Put Politics Ahead of Georgia Families With Vote to Confirm Climate Denier Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court

Washington, D.C. — Today, Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler put politics ahead of the wellbeing, health, and safety of Georgia families by voting to confirm climate-denying Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court, even as Georgians have faced devastation from a record-breaking hurricane season.

Tonight’s 52 to 48 vote is the first time in more than 150 years that a Supreme Court nominee was confirmed solely with the support of one party.

The confirmation of Justice Barrett cements a conservative, anti-science majority on the Supreme Court as the window to take bold climate action to avert the worst consequences of the crisis begins to close.

During her confirmation hearings, Barrett dismissed the scientific consensus that climate change is real by repeatedly refusing to even acknowledge the existence of the crisis. Barrett feigned ignorance and peddled long-standing GOP climate denial messaging, like “I am not a scientist,” and calling climate change a “contentious issue” (it’s not). As a judge on the country’s highest court, ignorance is simply not an option.

“David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler have given climate denier Justice Barrett a seat on the highest court in the land, where her anti-science bias will blind her from fairly ruling to hold corporate polluters accountable and safeguard the right to clean air and water for all Americans,” said Climate Power 2020 Spokesperson Meghan Schneider. “The rush to confirm Barrett, even after voting started the 2020 presidential election, shows just how eager Perdue and Loeffler are to force Donald Trump’s anti-environmental agenda on the courts.”

Perdue and Loeffler’s decision to support an illegitimate Supreme Court nominee who won’t even acknowledge well-established science shows a clear disregard for the health, safety, and economic future of Georgians. The state has been ravaged by increasingly destructive and frequent hurricanes, severe flooding, and a legacy of environmental racism. After standing by Trump’s side as the administration and Senate Republicans fueled the climate crisis, Perdue and Loeffler have now cemented a legacy of putting polluters ahead of people and failing to protect Georgians from the existential threat of the climate crisis.

The courts have been the strongest line of defense against four years of rampant environmental deregulation by the Trump administration. Attempts to roll back environmental and health safeguards have been defeated or abandoned 69 out of 83 times after the cases were taken to the courts. Now, Barrett’s confirmation will leave millions of Americans vulnerable to losing the right to clean air and water.

Georgians are not likely to support Perdue’s and Loeffler’s decision to back a climate denier to the Supreme Court. The majority — 63 percent — of Georgians are worried about the climate crisis and nearly as many want federal leaders to do more to address it.