So, although I definitely appreciate the dissenting views ,I’m totally on board as a supporter of Science Debate 2008. In case you haven’t heard, SD2008 is the proposition that on April 18, 2008 at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia the remaining candidates for the U.S. Presidency field questions specifically relating to (quoting from the official invitation):
”...such policy issues as: American economic competitiveness and support for scientific research; policy approaches to climate change; clean energy; the healthcare crisis; science education and technology in schools; scientific integrity; GM agriculture; transportation infrastructure; immigration; the genome; data privacy; intellectual property; pandemic diseases; the health of the oceans; water resources; stem cells; conservation and species loss; population; the space program, and others.”
So far, no candidate has accepted the invitation, and my question is “Why not?”
To be clear, although I’m one of the 36,000 individual signatories to the online petition (probably the only time I’ll be on the same list with Nobel leaureates) and obviously favor the idea, my question is genuine. Given a reasonable answer from any of the candidates as to why they might be unwilling to show up, I could agree to disagree on the importance of this debate. However, I’m slightly annoyed by the lack of response. Although this is a grassroots effort, most notably promoted by the science blogging community and especially Chris Mooney, a lot of heavy hitting organizations have signed on. To crib from the Science Debate 2008 Website:
“A concerned citizens initiative now cosponsored by the AAAS, the Council on Competitiveness, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine, and signed by over 150 leading American universities and other organizations, representing over 125 million Americans.”
That’s not a small interest group anymore. Speaking to the point directly, it’s not a small interest group because a lot of American organizations, institutions, Universities, and citizens are heavily invested in science and technology policy. That’s a good thing, but it’s problematic if the candidates aren’t paying attention. I understand this is a busy season, and there are a lot of demands on their time, but (speaking as one of the converted and probably preaching to others) I think this invitation warrants at least a response.
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have recently announced another Pennsylvania debate on (I believe) April 16th, and of course the Pennsylvania primary is later in the month. So what’s the deal? Are either of you coming? John McCain? And if not, why not?