Purpose | Science Debate asks candidates, elected officials, the public and the media to focus more on science policy issues of vital importance to modern life. As a registered 501(c)(3), Science Debate is nonpartisan. We encourage everyone to ask their candidates to discuss and debate their science and technology policies for the well-being of our nation and society. |
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Key people | Matthew Chapman, Sheril Kirshenbaum, Chris Mooney, Shawn Lawrence Otto, Lawrence Krauss, Austin Dacey, Darlene Cavalier, Michael Halpern |
Website | http://www.sciencedebate.org |
Science Debate is a nonpartisan American nonprofit organization working to elevate the importance of science and technology in the national public dialogue. They ask candidates running of office to share their science policy perspectives before Election Day so that every politician arrives in office prepared to meet the 21st centuries greatest challenges on day one. Driven by the vital role that science and technology play in the health, environmental, and economic well-being of society, Science Debate strives to provide voters with sufficient and meaningful information on these key issues when electing people to serve in public office.
The organization has the support of 24 Nobel laureates; 172 leaders of scientific institutions; 108 university presidents and provosts; and 55 current and former business leaders (such as company presidents, CEOs, and chairpersons). Well-known signatories include: actors Johnny Depp and Mark Ruffalo, presidential science adviser John Holdren, former energy secretary Steven Chu, inventor Elon Musk, actor/producer David Schwimmer, and educator Bill Nye. [1] [2]
In the run-up to the 2008 presidential election, the lack of discussion about science and technology issues caught the attention of film director and screenwriter Matthew Chapman. [3] Together with science journalist Chris Mooney, science writer Sheril Kirshenbaum, screenwriter and science advocate Shawn Lawrence Otto, theoretical physicist and cosmologist Lawrence Krauss, and science philosopher Austin Dacey, Science Debate 2008 was created. [4] [5] [6] Shortly thereafter, Science Cheerleader founder Darlene Cavalier and science advocate Michael Halpern joined the team. [7]
Within weeks of its founding, people and organizations from across the political spectrum signed on directly. [8] [9] This included prominent institutions such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the U.S. National Academies, as well as political movers ranging from John Podesta, President Bill Clinton’s former chief of staff, on the left to Newt Gingrich, former House Speaker, on the right. [10] [11] Collectively, by counting the members in the signatory organizations, Science Debate represents more than 125 million people. [12]
Throughout 2008, there were many calls for the candidates to participate in a science debate. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] On the eve of the Democratic National Convention, then nominee Barack Obama agreed to participate in an online “debate.” He formed a science advisory team that included Harold Varmus to help him answer the questions. [20] Days later, Senator John McCain agreed to a “debate” in this format as well. The candidates’ answers to “The Fourteen Top Science Questions Facing America,” covering climate change, energy, health care, space, the environment, and the research drivers of economic competitiveness were published in Nature. [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] Science Debate's story and the candidates' responses made nearly a billion media impressions. [26]
In partnership with Scientific American, Science Debate got President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney to address fourteen questions on some of the biggest scientific and technological challenges facing the nation. [27] [28] Scientific American, the group’s media partner in 2012, published the answers and rated them based on the current science. [29] [30] The process of soliciting responses from the candidates and subsequent analysis of the answers was the subject of much conversation in the media during both the primaries [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] and general election. [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44]
For the 2016 election cycle, Science Debate signed with a major television network as a media partner. [45] [46] On October 8, 2015, Science Debate and Research!America commissioned a poll of American attitudes about science and politics. Conducted with 1,002 American adults of voting age, an overwhelming majority (87%) said it is important that candidates for President and Congress have a basic understanding of the science informing public policy issues, including majorities across the political spectrum (92% of Democrats, 90% of Republicans, and 79% of Independents). Americans also said the presidential candidates should participate in a debate to discuss key science-based challenges facing the United States, such as healthcare, climate change, energy, education, innovation and the economy (91% of Democrats, 88% of Republicans and 78% of Independents). [47] The poll prompted major news outlets to ask why the candidates aren't addressing science issues. [48] [49] [50] [51] [52]
On January 11, 2016, Science Debate released a PSA in which children ask the candidates for President to discuss various scientific issues including climate change, clean drinking water and the honey bee colony collapse problem. The video garnered significant media coverage, inspiring writers to echo the children's call for increased discussion of science. [53] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58] [59] [60] [61]
On August 10 2016, Science Debate released the 20 top science questions. All four major candidates: President Donald Trump, Senator Hillary Clinton, Governor Gary Johnson, and Jill Stein responded in writing to the 2016 Science Debate Q&A.” [62] [63] [64] [65] [66] [67] [68] [69] [70] [71] [72]
In 2018, Science Debate expanded to ask all 2018 House, Senate and Gubernatorial candidates to participate in answering 10 questions about science policy. The first responses were released on January 3, 2018.
Lawrence Maxwell Krauss is an American theoretical physicist and cosmologist who previously taught at Arizona State University, Yale University, and Case Western Reserve University. He founded ASU's Origins Project in 2008 to investigate fundamental questions about the universe and served as the project's director.
The following is a timeline of major events leading up to and immediately following the United States presidential election of 2008. The election was the 56th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008, but its significant events and background date back to about 2002. The Democratic Party nominee, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, defeated the Republican Party's nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona.
The 2008 presidential campaign of Mike Gravel, former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives and United States Senator from Alaska, began on April 17, 2006, when he declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, in a speech to the National Press Club.
The political positions of Mitt Romney have been recorded from his 1994 U.S. senatorial campaign in Massachusetts, the 2002 gubernatorial election, during his 2003–2007 governorship, during his 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, in his 2010 book No Apology: The Case for American Greatness, during his 2012 U.S. presidential campaign, and during his 2018 senatorial campaign in Utah. Some of these political positions have changed, while others have remained unchanged.
Debates took place prior to and during the 2008 Democratic primaries. The debates began on April 26, 2007, in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
The United States presidential debates of 2008 were sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), a bipartisan organization that sponsored four debates that occurred at various locations around the United States in September and October 2008. Three of the debates involved the presidential nominees, and one involved the vice-presidential nominees.
Matthew H. D. Chapman is an English journalist, author, screenwriter, director and activist.
Science Debate 2008, currently ScienceDebate.org, was the beginning of a grassroots campaign to call for a public debate in which the candidates for the U.S. presidential election discuss issues relating to the environment, health and medicine, and science and technology policy.
The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were re-elected to a second term. They defeated the Republican ticket of businessman and former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
A series of political debates were held prior to and during the 2012 Republican primaries, among candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in the national election of 2012. The first debate occurred on May 5, 2011, in Greenville, South Carolina, and was hosted by Fox News, while the last debate was held February 22, 2012, in Mesa, Arizona, and was hosted by CNN.
The 2012 United States presidential election in Iowa took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Iowa voters chose six electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden, against Republican challenger and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan.
The bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) held four debates for the 2012 U.S. presidential general election, slated for various locations around the United States in October 2012 – three of them involving the major party presidential nominees, and one involving the vice-presidential nominees.
The 2012 United States presidential election in Arizona took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. State voters chose 10 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden, against Republican challenger and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Romney would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. Arizona was won by Romney with a 9.03% margin. This is the most recent presidential election in which Arizona failed to back the national winner, and when the Democratic candidate won a presidential election without winning the state. Obama remains the only president to win two terms in office without carrying Arizona either time since the state's founding in 1912. Arizona is one of only two states that Obama lost in 2008 or 2012 that his vice president Joe Biden would go on to win in 2020, the other being Georgia.
The 2012 United States presidential election in Texas took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Texas voters chose 38 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden, against Republican challenger and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan.
The start of the 2012 Republican race for president was shaped by the 13 presidential debates of 2011 beginning on May 5. Gary Johnson and Buddy Roemer, both former Governors, were left out of most of the debates, leading to complaints of bias. On December 28, 2011, Johnson withdrew to seek the Libertarian Party nomination and on February 23, 2012, Roemer withdrew to seek the Reform Party and the Americans Elect nomination.
The Virgil Goode presidential campaign of 2012 began when former U.S. Congressman Virgil Goode of Virginia announced his decision to seek the 2012 presidential nomination of the Constitution Party in February 2012. During the nomination campaign, he put forth a four-point plank that included his plans to restrict immigration, balance the federal budget, decrease the size of government, and institute congressional term limits.
Barack Obama won the 2008 United States presidential election on November 4, 2008. During campaign, by using social media and mobilizing the general public online, Obama was able to raise awareness and financial support of his campaign through the use of over 15 social networking sites.
Debates occurred among candidates in the campaign for the Democratic Party's nomination for the president of the United States in the 2016 presidential election.
The 2016 United States presidential election in Oregon was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Oregon voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, businessman Donald Trump, and running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and her running mate Virginia Senator Tim Kaine. Oregon has seven electoral votes in the Electoral College.
The 2016 United States presidential election in Utah was held on November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 United States presidential election which was also held in the other 49 states and in the District of Columbia. Voters were asked to pick 6 electors to be pledged for a candidate in the Electoral College. The two main tickets of the election were the Republican one, consisting of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor Mike Pence, and the Democratic one, consisting of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Virginia Senator Tim Kaine.