Carper in USA Today: Kavanaugh Would Seek to Finish what Scott Pruitt Started

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, wrote an op-ed piece for USA Today, shining a light on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s concerning anti-environment record and highlighting the striking similarities between his reckless agenda and that of former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt. Senator Carper noted that, based on Kavanaugh’s poor track record on the bench over the last 12 years, his nomination poses a significant threat to fundamental public health protections that keep families in Delaware and across the country safe. 

Earlier this week, Senator Carper led a group of Democratic colleagues in speaking on the Senate floor to shed light on Judge Kavanaugh’s dangerous environmental record during his time serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals.

An excerpt of Senator Carper’s USA Today op-ed can be found below, and the full version can be read online here.

“Pruitt was hostile to the very agency he led and repeatedly attempted to undo critical protections that his predecessors — both Republicans and Democrats — had put in place. Kavanaugh has successfully struck down protections under the Clean Air Act, opposed efforts to fight climate change and undermined critical protections for clean water. And he’s done so in cases brought to the courts by Scott Pruitt himself.

“Put simply, if he’s confirmed to serve on the Supreme Court, Kavanaugh will be able to finish what Pruitt started.

“Despite Pruitt giving lip service to ‘cooperative federalism’ throughout his tenure at EPA, he repeatedly denied states the ability to combat dangerous pollutants, like ozone, that blow into downwind states like Delaware from its western neighbors. In 2012, Kavanaugh rejected a similar “good neighbor” regulation and blocked air pollution restrictions covering nearly half the country, thereby endangering thousands of lives.

“…The numbers at this early stage may seem like they’re against us, but in truth, Kavanaugh’s environmental positions stand in stark contrast to what the overwhelming majority of Americans want and what the laws of our land require. When the American people — and the senators who represent them — learn more about Kavanaugh’s record and fully understand what’s at stake, then we have a fighting chance. And it’s a chance we intend to take.”

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