Thursday, January 10, 2008

Hoping They Will Take Debate

"As you watched the scores of U.S. Presidential debates, did you ever wonder why there has been no debate devoted to policy surrounding what may be the most important social issue of our time: Science and Technology?"
Well, the folks at Sciencedebate2008 did, and they're trying to do something about it. Here are the topics they'd like to see addressed:

The Environment

  • Climate Change
  • Conservation and Species Loss
  • The Future of The Oceans
  • Fresh Water: Drought, Pollution, Ownership
  • Population Growth and Its Effect on Environment
  • Renewable Energy Research

Health and Medicine

  • Global Diseases and Pandemics
  • Stem Cell Research
  • Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria
  • Drug Patents, Generic Drugs
  • The Genome
  • Bioethics

Science and Technology Policy

  • Scientific Innovation and Economic Growth
  • Improving Science Education
  • Space Exploration
  • Preserving Scientific Integrity in Government
  • Energy Policy
Signatories for this project compose an impressive selection of laureates; government leaders; organization leaders; college and university presidents, deans and directors; leading scientists; and other thought leaders.

What will come of all of this? Will we really see such a debate? Ah, hope springs eternal. Realistically, however, I figure there would be a better probability we'll see an ecclesiastical debate.

1 comment:

MountainLaurel said...

Actually, I wasn't surprised as I have heard nothing of substance on any topic in any of the debates. Hillary wants to work for change, Barack wants to hope for change, and John wants to demand change. Big fat hairy deal. What kind of change do they want? No clue, as that's never discussed. Where do we go from here? Who knows? The only thing we know if that we will change.