Where has the US's worries about climate change talk gone? For the first time since 1988, it wasn't brought up in at least one presidential debate of this year's election cycle. Now, when it comes to hard hitting reporting, someone's got the ask the tough questions. It just isn't usually MTV doing the asking.

"I'm surprised it didn't come up in one of the debates," President Obama said in an interview with MTV's Sway Williams, which aired on Oct 26.

"I believe the scientists, who say that we are putting too much carbon emissions into the atmosphere and it's heating the planet and it's going to have a severe effects," he said.

He went on to talk about changes he's made in the last four years, including clean energy production and requiring increased fuel efficiency in cars. He mentions also that we need to increase building energy efficiency, as a way to meet his 17 percent decrease in emissions promised in Kyoto.

Are his answers enough? Will the mollify the environmentally concerned crowds? Who knows. But at least the question finally got asked.

See the clip below:

Mitt Romney and President Obama both answered climate questions posed by Science Debate earlier this year. They provided written answers on September 4, 2012, but the two candidates didn't debate the issue in person. 

In his answers Mitt Romney said he agrees that climate likely is changing, he stands by the idea that scientists aren't in agreement that it's caused by human activity.

"... there remains a lack of scientific consensus on the issue — on the extent of the warming, the extent of the human contribution, and the severity of the risk — and I believe we must support continued debate and investigation within the scientific community," he wrote in response to the question.

[See where both candidates stand on the 14 biggest science issues facing the nation right now.]

As to why it took MTV to ask the hard climate questions, we aren't sure. Maybe they were worried about the effects of climate change on Lady Gaga's new fern species.

(via EcoWatch)