As Senator Susan Collins has helped Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell in their mission to overhaul the federal judiciary with right wing judges, she’s voted to install numerous judges with alarming anti environmental records and positions.
Perhaps the most dangerous anti-environment justice that Senator Collins has voted to confirm is Brett Kavanuagh, who has frequently questioned the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change. In his previous position on the DC Circuit Court, Kavanaugh ruled to support mining companies dumping pollution into our waterways, to delay protections against hazardous pollutants in our air and water, and opposed regulating greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. Collins herself has acknowledged Maine’s vulnerability to pollution emitted by power plants in other states, but she voted to confirm Kavanaugh after he ruled to strike down protections against air pollution crossing state lines.
Collins has also supported the nominations of justices who have questioned the constitutional legitimacy of the Environmental Protection Agency, and spent their careers prior to their judgeships arguing against regulations to protect the air we breathe and the water we drink.
Collins’ votes to confirm anti-environment judges coupled with her consistent support for Trump’s attacks on our environment have led to her losing the support of prominent environmental organizations that endorsed her in the past. The League of Conservation Voters Action Fund flipped last year to endorse Sara Gidon for U.S. Senate.
“Senator Collins has voted to confirm judges to lifetime seats in our nation’s courts who now threaten our environment, our health, and our future,” said Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Lisa Roberts. “In Maine, we feel the impacts of climate change every day and we need a Senator who will fight to protect our environment, not install judges who could block efforts to address this crisis for years to come.”
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