Leading U.S. Environmental Groups Endorse Sotomayor for U.S. Supreme Court Position

A group of major U.S. environmental groups has endorsed the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be a member of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The endorsement comes as the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee begins hearings tomorrow on the nomination of Judge Sotomayor. The organizations, which include such marque names as Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace USA, the Legal of Conservation Voters, the National Audubon Society, the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, said:

"Despite her long tenure on the federal bench, Judge Sotomayor has sat on relatively few environmental cases. She wrote a notable Clean Water Act decision, methodically analyzing and resolving various conservation, state, and industry challenges to a regulation designed to protect fish from being killed in the cooling water intake structures at large power plants. While a divided Supreme Court reversed one of the more than a dozen rulings in the case, her decision reflects well-researched, thorough, and thoughtful legal analysis that probes the statute, its context, legislative history, and judicial precedent to discern and remain true to Congressional intent. The Second Circuit [of which Judge Sotomayor is a member] has yet to issue a decision in a public nuisance case brought against utilities for harm caused by power plant greenhouse gas emissions, but observers praised Judge Sotoymayor's preparation and deep engagement in the complex issues at oral argument. Beyond the decisions she has written, Judge Sotomayor joined a decision upholding a Vermont law requiring that labels inform consumers that certain products contain mercury and must be disposed of as hazardous waste, although she also joined a Clean Air Act decision that went against environmental litigants..."

"Judge Sotomayor's record evinces no clear bias in favor of or against environmental claims. Instead, it reflects intellectual rigor, meticulous preparation, and fairness."

It seems extremely unlikely -- in essence there is zero chance -- that Judge Sotomayor's confirmation hearings will be determined by an environmental issue.  And assuming her nomination is approved by the committee, then a Senate floor vote will not involve environmental issues.  

That's one worry that she and the Obama Administration can set aside.  Whether her nomination is successful will be based on other, non-environmental issues.