Judge Kavanaugh's Past

Everyone is paying close attention to Judge Brett Kavanaugh. On Thursday, Trump's Supreme Court nominee will face questions from Congress about alleged sexual assaults. In most cases, Supreme Court confirmation hearings aren't made-for-television affairs. But a new poll out from PBS and NPR shows that 58 percent of Americans will be paying attention to this week’s confirmation hearings. Since so many people are fixated on Judge Kavanaugh, it’s a good opportunity to discuss his extensive record on energy and the environment. This week on The Interchange podcast, we're joined by Michael Wara, director of the climate and energy program at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Michael is familiar with some cases that Kavanaugh has heard as a circuit judge — and he’s going to help understand Kavanaugh’s judicial philosophy. Wara calls him an "extreme textualist" who rarely gives deference to agencies. "He tends to discover that words in legislation can only mean one thing — and that 'thing' happens to mean that the agency can't regulate. Putting him on the court in combination with Gorsuch would likely mean a significant curtailment of agency authority to make judgments." Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project. We're also supported by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level. Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.