President Obama got a rare question about climate change during an interview with MTV, and he pointed to a "huge contrast" between him and Mitt Romney.
"We're not moving as fast as we need to," Obama said. "This is an issue that future generations, MTV viewers, are going to have to be dealing with even more than the older generation is. So this is a critical issue -- and there's a huge contrast in this campaign between myself and Governor Romney. I'm surprised it didn't come up in the debates."
He also emphasized that despite his failure to pass a cap and trade bill, he has increased fuel efficiency standards by historic margins.
And, Obama said, if you look at Romney's positions, he "says he believes in climate change....but he says he's not sure that man-made causes are the reason." But "I believe scientists who say we're putting too much carbon emissions into the atmosphere and it's heating the planet and its going to have a severe effect."
In the same interview, Obama was asked about reproductive rights, and he pointed to Romney's support for defunding Planned Parenthood and overturning Roe v. Wade. "I think that is a profound mistake," Obama said.
As Laura Bassett of the Huffington Post pointed out on PoliticsNation, Romney has continued to support Richard Mourdock's senate candidacy in Indiana, despite Mourdock's comments that pregnancy from rape "is something that God intended to happen."
"Obviously in this case he's choosing politics over women's health," Bassett told Al Sharpton.
MTV host Sway Calloway talked to Lawrence O'Donnell about his interview with the president, saying that MTV has also extended an interview invitation to candidate Romney. "We'd love to give him an opportunity to talk about the issues, " said Calloway on The Last Word.
Romney has had less press availabilities, something even conservative like Bill O'Reilly noted recently.