Conservative political commentator and former GOP Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) on Sunday claimed that climate scientists "are driven by the money that they receive."

"If there was no climate change, we’d have a lot of scientists looking for work. The reality is that a lot of these scientists are driven by the money that they receive," Santorum said on CNN's "State of the Union."

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"And of course they don’t receive money from corporations and Exxon and the like. Why? Because they’re not allowed to, because it’s tainted. But they can receive it from people who support their agenda. And that, I believe, is what’s really going on here," he added.

Santorum's comments come after the Trump administration on Friday published a dire report that warned of catastrophic climate change if the U.S. doesn't change its policies.

Santorum said Sunday that the report was "generated by people who are in the bureaucracy."

"These are not Trump appointees," he said.

The ex-senator added that "no one doubts that the climate is changing."

"No one doubts that. The question is how much does man contribute, No. 1, and No. 2, how much can man do to change it?”