Obama knocks Perry on climate change

President Obama on Sunday attacked GOP White House hopeful Rick Perry over the Texas governor’s rejection of mainstream climate science.

Obama’s remarks at a California fundraiser were part of a broader attack on the GOP’s 2012 field.

“Some of you here may be folks who actually used to be Republicans but are puzzled by what's happened to that party, are puzzled by what's happening to that party. I mean, has anybody been watching the debates lately? You've got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change,” Obama said in San Jose.

“It's true. You've got audiences cheering at the prospect of somebody dying because they don't have healthcare and booing a service member in Iraq because they're gay,” he added.

Obama didn’t mention Perry by name, but Texas suffered through record-breaking heat this summer and drought-fueled wildfires.

Perry, on the stump, has repeatedly questioned the consensus view among scientists that the planet is warming up and emissions from burning fossil fuels are a key reason why.

In August, Perry alleged that scientists are manipulating data to win funding, and at a debate this month he invoked Galileo in touting his climate skepticism.

Perry spokesman Mark Miner criticized Obama's comment about the wildfires. "It's outrageous President Obama would use the burning of 1500 homes, the worst fires in state history, as a political attack," he said.

The Hill’s Sam Youngman reports that the president’s broader attacks on the GOP field Sunday “represent some of the most direct and combative for Obama so far as he has struck out on the campaign trail in earnest following the July debt-ceiling debate and the August break.”

Check out his story here.

This post was updated at 9:37 a.m.