Although global warming became more prominent in the minds of the U.S. public, the issue is rarely discussed by presidential candidates. NY1’s Michael Scotto filed the following report.

Former Vice President Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” brought dire images of global warming to the attention of the U.S. public.

But global warming has received little attention in this election cycle, beyond a question from an animated snowman at last year's YouTube Debate.

Environmentalists at the New York League of Conservation Voters put the blame for the lack of attention on global warming squarely on the media.

“We've done a study and out of 3,200 questions by all the top reporters to the major presidential candidates, about eight have been asked about global warming specifically,” said Joshua Klainberg of the League of Conservation Voters.

Global warming also barely registers as an important issue in polling data. When voters are asked which issues are the most important this campaign season, they usually respond with the economy and the Iraq war.

Political observers say those issues drive the debate.

”Environment almost never gets into those issues because, generally speaking, this is something that people think government should be doing and it shouldn't be an issue of political controversy,” said Steven Cohen of Columbia University.

On the stump, candidates try to tie global warming and energy to what directly worries voters – promising lower prices at gas pumps through the development of new energy sources.

“We've gonna deal with climate change and cap the emission of greenhouse gases and raise fuel efficiency standards and invest in solar and wind and biodiesel,” said Barack Obama on Friday on ABC’s The View.

Politicians also equate the oil crisis with having the country not rely on the Middle East.

“We've got to start to make it clear that we cannot be more dependent on foreign oil today than we were on 9/11. That is a tragedy for America,” said Hillary Clinton.

Republican John McCain's views on the environment are similar to those of his democratic rivals.

With no environmental villain vying for the White House this year, environmentalists feel optimistic about the future.

“After eight years of this current administration largely ignoring the problem and now putting some band-aids on it, I definitely see this planet in a better position, whomever gets into office,” said Klainberg.