Politics and Science
cmooney | January 30, 2008 The winner of the Florida Republican primary has been the farthest thing from a straight talker lately.... but still, over at DeSmogBlog I argue that we should credit his record and realize that, while he's more moderate than the Dems, he definitely wants mandatory action to happen--and that's what centrally counts. To wit:
There seem to me to be two fundamental points. One: Anyone who cares about global warming should want McCain to vanquish his Republican opponents in the primaries. If we get McCain versus one of the Democrats in the general election, we'll have two candidates who want…
cmooney | January 28, 2008
In his most prominent opportunities to speak to the nation over the past near-decade, our president hasn't exactly highlighted matters relating to science (or his administration's various assaults thereupon).
I wouldn't expect much of a change tonight, either.
Still, to prepare yourself to be disappointed, check out this contribution from the Science Progress blog. The little gnomes over there have scanned the texts from Bush's past six speeches for science buzzwords. The results?
While I don't want to give them all away, this is noteworthy: Bush has never yet said the word "stem cell"…
sheril | January 23, 2008The Science Times is finding creative ways to compare complex social networks thoughout the animal kingdom to politics as usual.
Just as there are myriad strategies open to the human political animal with White House ambitions, so there are a number of nonhuman animals that behave like textbook politicians. Researchers who study highly gregarious and relatively brainy species like rhesus monkeys, baboons, dolphins, sperm whales, elephants and wolves have lately uncovered evidence that the creatures engage in extraordinarily sophisticated forms of politicking, often across large and far-flung…
cmooney | January 23, 2008If we can get the world of science to speak with one voice on the matter, it will become harder and harder for politicians to resist the call for a presidential science debate.
Today, that moves much closer to reality with the official news that the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's largest general scientific society, will support and endorse ScienceDebate2008. AAAS CEO Alan Leshner has also joined our bipartisan steering committee (which both Sheril and myself sit on).
You can read the full news release here. And for those who keep asking what is next for…
cmooney | January 17, 2008There have been a number of interesting reads about ScienceDebate2008 lately--including this one from Columbia Journalism Review's Curtis Brainard, and another one from Greenwire/Environment & Energy Daily's Lauren Morello (which you can't read unless you're special and have a password).
Let's take 'em in order:
Not surprisingly, Brainard takes a media angle--namely, observing that the mainstream press isn't covering science or the environment enough in the context of the campaign. Neither is it covering ScienceDebate2008 very much, although that's changing (and we don't need 'em anyway…
sheril | January 16, 2008
"The COMPETES legislation was a great step forward for U.S. efforts in science, technology, innovation and education - and it will yield results. But the debate on science and technology in this country must grow to be part of a national discussion on our future - and a presidential debate on the subject would put it front and center," concluded Gordon.
Read the full press release here.
cmooney | January 16, 2008We're proud to note the following additions to the cause:
Kurt Gottfried, Chair & cofounder, Union of Concerned Scientists; Professor Emeritus of Physics, Cornell University
Amy Gutmann, President, University Of Pennsylvania
Albert Karnig, President, California State University, San Bernardino
Maria Klawe, President, Harvey Mudd College
Eve Marder, President, Society For Neuroscience
Marcia McNutt, President and CEO, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Jim Plummer, Dean, Stanford University School Of Engineering
Michael Seiden, President and CEO, Fox Chase Cancer Center…
sheril | January 11, 2008At 2pm, listen in to NPR's Science Friday with Ira Flatow on the Call for a Science Debate:
Friday, January 11th, 2008
Hour One- 2pm EDT
The Call for A Science Debate
Should the presidential candidates participate in a debate focusing on science, technology, and the environment? A group of voters has started a petition movement calling for a science debate.
Call in and share your perspective or suggest what kind of questions you would ask at 1-800-989-8255. Details on today's show here.
cmooney | January 10, 2008Big news, eh?
No power in the 'verse can stop us...
P.S.: We also added Rep. Jay Inslee today and Kevin Knobloch, President of the Union of Concerned Scientists. And there is more big news coming, of that I can assure you...
sheril | January 10, 2008I told you It's Gettin HOT In Herre!
2008's already burning up with the primaries making headlines everywhere... These are exciting times as the candidates are taking a stand on arguably the most important issues in our planetary adolescence. We've reached a boiling point, quite literally, and anything is possible come November 4th.
An unprecedented election--the likes of which I certainly don't remember-- with the opportunity to set a trajectory toward a better future by defining our priorities and agenda. That's the great thing about this US of A...we choose our own leaders. And I'm…
sheril | January 10, 2008The Bush administration's final budget rollout will be paper-free and expects to save nearly 20 tons of paper and about $1 million over five years. Paper copies are no longer free, even for the Appropriations committees.
After nearly 50 years in office, West Virginia Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd has obviously maintained a good sense of humor:
'Since when did the Bush White House get e-fiscal discipline? Let us hope that they send us a budget that is worth the paper it would have been printed on.'
cmooney | January 9, 2008
When I set out to write my latest Science Progress column about the current status of efforts to restore the congressional Office of Technology Assessment, I have to say I was naive.
I simply thought that with Democrats back in control of Congress, restoring the Republican-killed office would be a cinch.
Think again. It's much more complicated than that--and a lot of elected Democrats don't seem to grasp the importance of good science advice either, sadly. They seem to think that science advice is for scientists, rather than for them.
For more detail, read the piece, entitled "Science,…
cmooney | January 4, 2008A propos of the ScienceDebate2008 project, my latest Seed column has just gone online. It's about how we must reinvent the role of the presidential science adviser for the modern media and political era. An excerpt:
Because formal US science advising was born during the Cold War, the emphasis often lay upon finding someone who intimately grasped nuclear security issues. The tradition lingers up to the present: The past four science advisers, including Marburger, have all been physicists. Yet while nuclear security issues remain vital, the science policy portfolio has dramatically diversified…
sheril | January 4, 2008There is another aspect of our educational system that merits attention. Institutions of higher learning have served as the nation's research and development labs. These institutions train the innovators of the future. Here too, our policies have been moving in the wrong direction. Each month, scientists and engineers visit to discuss the federal government's diminished commitment to funding basic research. Over the last 30 years, funding for the sciences has declined as a percentage of GDP. If we want an innovation economy, then we have to invest in our future innovators--by doubling federal…
cmooney | January 3, 2008Our efforts were recently mentioned in an editorial in Nature:
Election year offers a chance for scientists who aspire to a direct role in the political process to make their voices heard. Prompted by seven years of what they see as manipulation of scientific findings by the Bush administration, groups are trying to raise the profile of science in the upcoming campaign. An organization called Scientists and Engineers for America plans to launch a project tracking the science- and health-related votes of all members of Congress, plus challengers for their seats as well as the presidential…
sheril | January 3, 2008
[The Intersection in LA, plotting world domination.]
Well what better way for two cobloggers to ring in the new year than from the same coast and time zone? We're blogging together from L.A.--catching up on framing science, sea cucumbers, hurricanes--and plans for The Intersection. We've got some BIG ideas for 2008!
This year we'll be writing about the upcoming election, the stormy world, conservation, the environment, and the intersection of science with art, literature, history, and more. Now and then Sparticus Maximus the Great will take over and provide his birdbrain perspective, too…
sheril | December 26, 2007Chris already listed several amazing new signatories who joined ScienceDebate2008 and now we can finally announce the most exciting news yet!
NEW YORK - A Republican and a Democratic member of the United States Congress, who are each also scientists, are leading an effort to push for a presidential debate on science and technology policy.
Congressman Vern Ehlers, R-MI, and congressman Rush Holt, D-NJ, have agreed to co-chair the non-partisan initiative, called ScienceDebate2008.com, whose signers also include fourteen Nobel laureates, several university presidents, other congresspersons of…
cmooney | December 26, 2007I can't believe the names that have rolled in over the holidays, including a very large number of university presidents:
Warren Baker, President, California Polytechnic State University
Eugene Butcher, Professor of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine; Crafoord Prize in Polyarthritis, 2004
Jared Cohon, President, Carnegie Mellon University
Dianne Harrison, President, California State University, Monterey Bay
John Hennessy, President, Stanford University
Albert Karnig, President, California State University, San Bernardino
Don Kassing, President, San Jose State University
Eugene H…
cmooney | December 23, 2007It's not like a lot of people are reading blogs right now...but still, I thought I'd get this up before I take the night train to Flagstaff, AZ, where I'm spending Christmas with my mom and sister.
First of all, since last I posted ScienceDebate2008 has (once again) added some extremely impressive names. In ABC order:
Philip Campbell, Editor-in-Chief, Nature
Rita Colwell, Former Director, National Science Foundation 1998-2004; Distinguished Professor, University Of Maryland/Johns Hopkins University School Of Public Health; National Medal of Science, 2006
Robert H. Grubbs, Victor and…