Republican Jon Luers, left, faces incumbent Democrat state Sen. Rob Martwick in the 10th District race.

A Republican candidate for state senator said he views climate change as “not a real problem,” while the Democratic incumbent said he is “terrified for the planet” that he will leave his kids.

The policy differences between state Sen. Rob Martwick and GOP challenger Jon Luers are stark — as outlined during a recent 45-minute interview with a representative of the Daily Herald Editorial Board — but perhaps not more so than on climate change.

The candidates running for election in the 10th District — an area centered on Chicago’s Far Northwest Side that extends to Rosemont, Schiller Park, River Grove and Norridge — were asked if Illinois was doing enough to combat it.

“Climate change is a very convenient political ploy to advocate for all kinds of government control,” said Luers, a software engineer from Chicago. “I believe that the climate has not changed much over the last any number of years that you can name. It does change gradually from year to year and decade to decade, but I believe that we are just fine, and no governmental intervention should be attempted to change that.”

Martwick, who has held the Senate seat since 2019 after serving as a state representative for much of the same area since 2012, attributed climate change to “the realities of the human condition,” including population growth, the burning of fossil fuels, and excess use of disposable plastics.

“I am a 58-year-old father of a 5-year-old and 8-year-old, and I am terrified for the planet that my children are going to inherent,” said Martwick, of Chicago, adding that humans have caused “irrevocable damage.”

Martwick is touting a 100% pro-environment voting record with the Sierra Club, and his co-sponsorship of the Clean Energy Jobs Act, which “is helping to shut down coal plants,” according to his campaign website.

“It is critical — mission critical — for the future of our species, race and planet that we do everything we can to stem the tide of climate change,” he told the Daily Herald.

Luers said he thinks the current atmospheric level of carbon dioxide — 419.3 parts per million, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — “is just a tiny amount.” He added he would rely on the “historical resilience of natural systems.”

“Wasting a lot of public money on the fears of a few is irresponsible,” Luers said.

He also criticized Gov. JB Pritzker’s $536 million award of incentives to Gotion, which is opening an electrical vehicle battery assembly plant in Manteno, as “irresponsible state spending.”