【Watch Power】

A large group of scientific organizations posed a series of 20 questions to the major presidential candidates,Watch Power as they have during the past several presidential elections. The questions range from their thoughts on space exploration to their views on health research.

When it comes to climate change, Republican nominee Donald Trump diverged sharply in his answer from his Democratic opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Here is the question posed to the candidates:

"The Earth’s climate is changing and political discussion has become divided over both the science and the best response."

"What are your views on climate change, and how would your administration act on those views?"

Trump responded, writing, "There is still much that needs to be investigated in the field of 'climate change.'" (He decided to put climate change in quotes, perhaps, as an indication of his skepticism about the issue.)

Trump continued:

Perhaps the best use of our limited financial resources should be in dealing with making sure that every person in the world has clean water. Perhaps we should focus on eliminating lingering diseases around the world like malaria. Perhaps we should focus on efforts to increase food production to keep pace with an ever-growing world population. Perhaps we should be focused on developing energy sources and power production that alleviates the need for dependence on fossil fuels. We must decide on how best to proceed so that we can make lives better, safer and more prosperous.

In other words, Trump, who has a prominent oil tycoon, Harold Hamm, advising him on energy issues as well as a congressman who is a well-known climate denier, doesn't think climate change is a priority for acting on.

It's no secret that Trump doubts the mainstream science showing that human-cased global warming is a major threat, and that long-term warming trends cannot be explained by natural variability on its own.

His evasion of the question, however, is particularly apparent in this instance.

Compare that answer to part of Secretary Clinton's response:

When it comes to climate change, the science is crystal clear. Climate change is an urgent threat and a defining challenge of our time and its impacts are already being felt at home and around the world.

That’s why as President, I will work both domestically and internationally to ensure that we build on recent progress and continue to slash greenhouse gas pollution over the coming years as the science clearly tells us we must.

Polls consistently show that the majority of Americans believe that human-caused climate change is a reality, and must be addressed. Even a majority of Republicans believe climate change is both real and a priority.

However, Trump, the Republican standard bearer, is out of step with the polls on this issue.

Clearly, climate scientists, activists and many others who care about this issue have a lot riding on this election.

dlc

Expert writer and contributor. Passionate about sharing knowledge and insights on various topics.