Rose Strauss, 18, isn't your average Scott Wagner voter. In fact, it's entirely likely she isn't a Wagner voter at all.

Rose Strauss (submitted photo)

She's a member of the activist group Sunrise Movement, an organization of environmentally minded young people who want their elected leaders to just say "no" to donations from the fossil fuel industry.

But she still was surprised by the answer she got from the Republican gubernatorial nominee during a town hall meeting in Montgomery County on Wednesday night when she asked him for his thoughts on climate change.

Now, video of that exchange, recorded by activist Sean Kitchen, is being widely shared on social media, thrusting climate change, which has been a sleeper issue in this year's duel between Wagner and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, to the forefront of the conversation.

Wagner, the founder of trash hauling firm PennWaste, calls Strauss "a little young and naive" after she asks him about campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry.

His quip nets him applause and laughter from some of the suburban Philadelphia audience.

In the video, Wagner then launches into a circuitous answer about sewage discharge into the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg, arguing that kind of environmental threat concerns him far more than climate change.

He also muses aloud on whether Pennsylvanians are electing a scientist or a governor. He says he's running to be the latter.

In a brief interview on Thursday morning, Strauss, of Downingtown, Chester County, said she felt patronized by the former Republican state senator.

"He didn't have that tone with anyone else who was speaking there," Strauss said. "I could tell he was being dismissive of me as a woman and a young person."

In an email, Wagner's spokesman, Andrew Romeo, said Wagner's point was "that it's naive to suggest he doesn't believe in climate change and that there are things as governor he thinks could be done better to address the issue.

"He's been balancing efforts to create jobs and care for the environment for decades in his recycling business," Romeo said.

Here is a brief transcript of that exchange between Strauss and Wagner, based on the video posted by Kitchen. By mid-morning on Thursday, it had been viewed more than 7,500 times:

"You've said that climate change is a result of people's body heat, and are refusing to take action on the issue," Strauss, a sophomore at UC-Santa Barbara, asked Wagner. "Does this have anything to do with the $200,000 that you have taken from the fossil fuel industry?"

Wagner responds: "Well, I appreciate you being here. You're 18 years old. You know, you're a little young and naive, he said.

"But are we here to elect a governor or elect a scientist? Okay? I'm here to be the governor," he continued. "I appreciate - and I understand - the question. But I have one for you, Rose."

Shifting the subject to environmental and infrastructure issues, Wagner continued

"Climate change is important," Wagner said. "We all hear about it."

Wagner then goes on to talk about a 2016 Wall Street Journal story detailing the city of Harrisburg's problems with sinkholes and how the city's crumbling infrastructure, unable to deal with storm water, had led to untreated sewage being discharged into the Susquehanna River.

"Now do you want to talk about that? Or do you want to talk about climate change?" he asked. "I'm more interested in the sewage that's going into the Susquehanna River."

Here's the video of the exchange:

Watch @realScottWagner tell a young woman that she is "young and naive" when she asked a question on climate change.#pagov pic.twitter.com/ZDG4vnqgud — Daylin Leach is Still in Leadership ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 🌹 (@RCPress_Sean) July 19, 2018

Wolf's running-mate, Braddock, Pa. Mayor John Fetterman, weighed in with a Tweet of his own:

Dear Young + Naive: @realScottWagner knows climate change caused by “more people... humans have warm bodies” #FixPA🤪 https://t.co/f2oAXzvOFC — John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) July 19, 2018

During a July 5 town hall in Cumberland County, Wagner was asked a similar question by a woman from Lancaster County, appearing to indicate that activists are trying to get him on the record in multiple events.

At that event, Wagner said he was unaware of such contributions.

"That would be news to me," he said, asking her to point out to his staff which contributions she was talking about and he would evaluate it. He mentioned much of the money for his campaign has come out of his own pocket.

And while Wagner might not be running for scientist-in-chief, that hasn't stopped him from dabbling in matters of climate science before.

In May 2017, he was criticized for apparently suggesting that climate change was caused by the Earth moving closer to the sun.

"I haven't been in a science class in a long time, but the earth moves closer to the sun every year, you know the rotation of the earth," Wagner, a York County state senator, said, according to StateImpact Pennsylvania. "We're moving closer to the sun."

He added, according to StateImpact, that, "We have more people. You know, humans have warm bodies. So is heat coming off? Things are changing, but I think we are, as a society, doing the best we can."

On Thursday, Strauss said she'd like to see an increased focus on environmental issues by Pennsylvania's elected leaders.

"We think, going forward, it's a super-important thing that our politicians are being held accountable," she said. "Climate change can only solved if the people who are causing it aren't funding our politicians. We think young people can be a really bold force in elections and change the conversation."