Senator Kamala Harris, D-Calif., questioned Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Oct. 14, the third day of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing. Harris cited the Trump administration’s decision “to roll back environmental protections” and remove “the term ‘climate change' from government agency websites, including the EPA.” She asked Barrett if she would “defer to scientists and those with expertise in the relevant issues before rendering a judgement” if a case came before her that required her to “consider scientific evidence.”

“If a case comes before me involving environmental regulation, I will certainly apply all applicable law, deferring when the law requires me to,” Barrett said, adding that “the Administrative Procedure Act does require courts to defer to agency fact finding and to agency regulations when they’re supported by substantial evidence.”

But after Harris asked whether she believes that “climate change is happening and is threatening the air we breathe and the water we drink,” Barrett said that she “will not express a view on a matter of public policy — especially one that is politically controversial — because that’s inconsistent with the judicial rule, as I have explained.”

The hearing came about three weeks before Election Day. The third of four days of scheduled testimony gave senators another opportunity to ask Barrett about her record and approach to the law.

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