Nothing suggests that Republican Rick Santorum is not one of Fox News’ favored Republican candidates like the grilling he got from Chris Wallace today on Fox News Sunday, especially about climate change.

Wallace put Santorum through some tough questioning on taxes, immigration and Santorum’s criticisms of Fox’s presidential debate plans. But what jumped out at me was the discussion about climate change.

Any regular Fox watcher knows that climate change is not a topic close to Fox News’ heart. In fact, Fox normally promotes climate denial.

But in Wallace’s interview with Santorum today, there was this exchange:

WALLACE: Pope Francis will release an encyclical on the environment on June 18th, and you suggested recently that the Holy Father should stay out of the debate on climate change. Here you are.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SANTORUM: The church has gotten it wrong a few times on science, and I think that we probably are better off leaving science to the scientists and focusing on what we do—what we’re really good at, which is—which is theology and morality.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WALLACE: Two points—if he’s not a scientist, and, in fact, he does have a degree in chemistry, neither are you.

SANTORUM: I agree. But—

WALLACE: That’s one point. And the second point is somewhere between 80 percent and 90 percent of scientists who have studied this say that humans, men—human activity, contributes to climate change. So, I guess the question would be, if he shouldn’t talk about it, should you?

SANTORUM: Well, we have to make public policy with regard to the environmental policy. I—

WALLACE: But you’re not a scientist. You said leave the science to the scientists.

SANTORUM: But the point is that politicians, whether we like it or not, people in government have to make decision with regard to public policy that affect American workers. Look at the administration is proposing this ozone regulation that will simply shut down any manufacturing expansion in this country. So, yes, there are things that are going to happen here that scientists are going to determine whether we need ozone regulations or not.

WALLACE: And you don’t think the pope has the right—

SANTORUM: But there are political—

WALLACE: You don’t think the pope has a right to talk about this?

SANTORUM: The pope can talk about whatever he wants to talk about. I’m saying, what should the pope use his moral authority for? And I would make the argument—

WALLACE: Well, he would say he’s protecting the Earth.

SANTORUM: That’s important but I think there are more pressing problems confronting the Earth than climate change. And I would suggest that, particularly when it comes to me as someone who’s trying to go out there and make sure we have a revitalization in manufacturing, to energy production, the things to create jobs and opportunities, that speculative science, which has proven over time not to have checked out, all the predictions that were made 15 years ago, none of them have come true.

So, all of this certainty, which is what bothers me about this debate, the idea that science is settled. Any time you hear a scientist say the science is settled, that’s political science, not real science, because no scientists in their right mind would say ever the science is settled.

Jeb Bush has yet to sit down with Chris Wallace. But it will be interesting to see if Wallace will try to pin down Bush on the subject as relentlessly as he quizzed Santorum.

Watch it below, from the June 7 Fox News Sunday.