Obama answers “top 14 science questions”

"For the last 60 years, science and engineering have been responsible for half the growth in the U.S. economy,” says Shawn Lawrence Otto, CEO of Science Debate 2008. “But some reports suggest that by 2010, 90% of all scientists and engineers will live in Asia.” That fact inspired formation of the nonpartisan citizens’ initiative, which hopes to make key science issues a larger part of America’s political dialogue. To this end, ScienceDebate2008.com developed its “top 14 science questions facing America” and invited presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. Senator Obama has answered the call.

"For the last 60 years, science and engineering have been responsible for half the growth in the U.S. economy,” says Shawn Lawrence Otto, CEO of Science Debate 2008. “But some reports suggest that by 2010, 90% of all scientists and engineers will live in Asia. Asian countries are now graduating 10 times the number of scientists and engineers the U.S. is.”

That fact inspired formation of the nonpartisan citizens’ initiative, which hopes to make key science issues a larger part of America’s political dialogue -- including the current presidential election. To this end, ScienceDebate2008.com developed its “top 14 science questions facing America” and invited presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama.

Senator Obama has answered the call.

“Most of America’s major unsolved challenges revolve around these 14 questions. To move America forward, the next president needs a substantive plan for tackling them going in, and voters deserve to know what that plan is,” says Otto.

“We’re pleased that Senator Obama has provided voters with that substantive plan, and we’re hoping for similarly thoughtful responses from Senator McCain.”

I, too, hope for a response from McCain -- and according to a recent poll by the group, so do most voters. The results indicate that 85% of Americans want the candidates to debate science issues -- and a vast majority “strongly agree” with the necessity of such discussion.

It’s unfortunate that the McCain camp hasn’t answered yet. And I’m not encouraged by the fact that McCain’s campaign was similarly unresponsive to BioOptics World’s “In The Loop” columnist Susan M. Reiss when she called seeking information. (Susan’s article will appear in the Sept/Oct issue, but we’ve posted a preview here.) In fact, while Reiss was able to uncover more details regarding Obama’s views and plans than McCain’s, neither campaign agreed to be interviewed.

C'mon, Senator McCain. Follow Mr. Obama's lead and answer ScienceDebate2008.com. And let this be a start -- not an end -- to the discussion of these important issues.

More information:
Senator Obama’s answers.


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