Politicians who don't believe in climate change should not hold public office, said actor Leonardo DiCaprio Monday at the White House before the screening of his new climate documentary.

"The scientific consensus is in and the argument is now over," DiCaprio said at the White House's South By South Lawn event.

"If you do not believe in climate change, you do not believe in facts or in science or empirical truths and therefore, in my humble opinion, should not be allowed to hold public office."

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DiCaprio screened his film "Before the Flood," a documentary about climate change. Ahead of the screening, he spoke on a panel with President Obama.

"Climate change is almost perversely designed to be really hard to solve politically. It is a problem that creeps up on you," Obama said. "The political system in every country is not well-designed to do something tough now to solve a problem that people will really feel the impact of in the future." Obama called for the development of new technologies to address climate change but stressed changes in policy and attitudes wouldn't happen overnight.

In the film, DeCaprio travels to Greenland, the Pacific Islands, Sumatra and industrial regions of China to show the effects of climate change.

DiCaprio and the film's director, Fisher Stevens, hope to use it in the run-up to next month's general elections, according to The Guardian.

They plan to show it on college campuses and across swing states. It will be released via National Geographic later this month.