Tina Smith: “I rise today to express my strong concern about Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. In particular…”

“I rise today to express my strong concern about Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. In particular, I want to discuss today his troubling record on the environment and what that means for people's health. Judge Kavanaugh has demonstrated that he simply doesn't believe that existing law allows new environmental threats to be addressed via any sort of regulation. I am talking about existing law designed to protect human health and our environment. When you take a look at Judge Kavanaugh's record, one thing becomes abundantly clear: Judge Kavanaugh has tried to weaken Clean Air Act protections even though the act controls pollutants such as smog and carbon monoxide, which contribute to asthma, heart attacks, and even premature deaths. They put our health at risk. In a 2012 case, Judge Kavanaugh authored an opinion that found the EPA had exceeded its authority when the Agency directed upwind States to literally stop blowing smoke onto their downwind neighbors. The good news is that the Supreme Court was more sensible than Judge Kavanaugh. Justices Kennedy and Roberts joined four others in a 6-to-2 decision to overturn Judge Kavanaugh's lower court ruling. Writing for the majority, Justice Ginsburg found that the EPA does have the power to act to protect people's health. I agree with the Supreme Court's 2012 decision, and so do most Americans. An April 2018 poll found that 75 percent of Americans support even stricter limits on smog.…”