If a U.S. presidential debate on science and technology sounds too wonky for words, think again. That’s the message supporters of Science Debate 2008 are trying to hammer home.
Science and technology not only contribute greatly to the nation’s bottom line (about half of U.S. gross domestic product over the past century, according to the group), but represent “what may be the most important social issue of our time,” the group’s organizers claim.
“When you think about it, nearly every major challenge the next president will face has a science or technological component,” said Lawrence M. Krauss, an astrophysicist at Case Western Reserve University and a member of the Science Debate 2008 steering committee.
Those challenges include climate change, the future of the Earth’s oceans, fresh water supplies, drought, renewable energy research, the threat of global pandemics, the rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria, bioethics, energy policy and ensuring scientific integrity in government.
So far, nearly 75 institutions and 12,000-plus individuals have signed on as supporters of a presidential science debate. They include the National Academy of Sciences; Friends of the Earth; Science Magazine; Marcia McNutt, president and CEO of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute; and Will Steger, a polar explorer and developer of the Global Warming 101 initiative.
Science Debate 2008 organizers hope to soon start formally inviting the presidential candidates, and have tentatively scheduled a debate for sometime in mid-April.
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Shirley Siluk Gregory
Shirley Siluk Gregory, a transplanted Chicagoan now living in Northwest Florida, represents the progressive half of Green Options' Red, Green and Blue segment. She holds a bachelor's degree in Geological Sciences from Northwestern University but graduated in 1984, just when the market for geologists was flatter than the Florida landscape. Just as well, though: she had little interest in spending her life either in a laboratory or, heaven forbid, an oil field. So, of course, she went into journalism. After extremely low-paying but fun and educational stints at several suburban Chicago weeklies and dailies, Shirley and her then-boyfriend/now-husband Scott found themselves displaced by a media buyout and spending the next several years working as freelancers. Among their credits: The Chicago Tribune, a publication for the manufactured-housing industry, and Web Hosting Magazine, a now-defunct publication that came and went with the dotcom era. Shirley's always been concerned about nature and conservation (and an avid pack-rat, as her family can attest to), but became even more rabidly interested in the environment primarily due to two factors: the growing signs that global warming was real and threatening, and the birth of her son, Noah, in 2003. Suddenly, the prospect of a world that might not be quite as habitable in 40 or 50 years took on a whole new, and personal, meaning. Living where she lives now also helped light the fire of Shirley's environmental awareness: her hometown was severely damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and beaten up again by Hurricane Dennis in 2005. That, and the fact that she and her family were vacationing in New Orleans until the day before Katrina -- and spent 12 hours driving home for a trip that normally takes 3 -- has made Shirley deeply appreciate how fragile our lifestyles are, and how dependent they are on sound management of natural resources and sustainable living practices. That's why she's become a passionate reader and writer about all things green and sustainable.
One Response to Beyond Talking Points and Spin: Group Seeks Presidential Debate on Science
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If you want a president who cares about science, just wait until next January. It may take some time, but eventually the 44th president will be able to restore the government-funded science programs that Bush has neglected. Now that Mike Huckabee is not a serious contender, you can be sure that the next president will value the physical world instead of forcing an entire nation to suffer for his faith that “God will set us on the right path.” I like to believe that God wants us to use our minds to set ourselves on the right path.