Vice President Mike Pence made a habit of giving roundabout answers during Wednesday night’s vice presidential debate, particularly on climate change, when he said the administration was committed to listening “to the science” right after he passed on saying humans had directly affected the globe’s worsening climate situation. “The climate is changing, but the issue is, what’s the cause and what do we do about it,” Pence said. “President Trump has made it clear that we’re going to continue to listen to the science.” Pence’s answer came after debate moderator Susan Page noted the “record setting hurricanes in the South” and pressed the vice president about the clear finding from scientists on human-created climate change affecting the severity of both wildfires and hurricanes. Pence insisted that the rise in hurricane intensity and the prevalence of wildfires were not historically unique—another proposition that scientists reject. The answer came weeks after President Donald Trump himself cast doubt on the clear science on climate change, according to The Associated Press, amid the California wildfires last month.
