In an exclusive report on Tuesday night, The Daily Poster broke the news that Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett has direct ties to Shell Oil and could be on the court as it hears the oil giant’s new appeal to try to permanently crush climate litigation. If Barrett is confirmed and she refuses to recuse herself, she could help decide that landmark case, which could determine the future of all climate policy for the next few decades.

Now, only hours after the story broke, Barrett used her confirmation hearing to effectively deny climate change — and Democrats went silent.

“I don’t think I am competent to opine on what causes global warming or not,” Barrett said when asked by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) whether she believes humans cause global warming. “I don’t think that my views on global warming or climate change are relevant to the job I would do as a judge, nor do I feel like I have views that are informed enough, and I haven’t studied scientific data. I’m not really in a position to offer any kind of informed opinion on what I think causes global warming.”