During an interview broadcast on Thursday’s edition of CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time,” Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) argued that it is “pretty dumb” not to ask if Hurricane Harvey and its intensity is partially due to climate change.

Sanders said, “I think it is pretty dumb not to ask some hard questions about why more rain is now falling and has fallen in the Houston area, as I understand it, than any time that people can — have measured. Is it related to climate change? Is some of the intensity and the magnitude of this rainfall related to climate change? I think most scientists believe it is. and the right question to be asking is, what does this mean for the future? Are we going to see more storms, more rainfall of this magnitude? And of course, that is an issue that has to be looked at. It is my view that Trump is dead wrong when he talks about climate change being a hoax. I think it is a very serious, serious problem for our country and around the world. I believe that we have to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel to sustainable energy and energy efficiency.”

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