FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2008
WASHINGTON —Fifty-seven universities and other organizations have joined a major effort to mount a presidential debate on science, technology and the economy.
“Science and engineering are responsible for half of our nation’s growth in GDP over the last fifty-seven years, and have come to impact every aspect of our lives, our economy, our health, our environment and our decision-making processes. No other debate topic can claim anything close to that impact on voters’ lives,” said Shawn Lawrence Otto, a spokesman for the group and one of the debate’s organizers. "Collectively, the signers of this initiative represent millions and millions of American voters."
The endorsers of the ScienceDebate2008.com initiative include the universities of Minnesota, Washington, Arizona State, New York University, North Carolina State, Michigan Tech, Columbia and others, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Council on Competitiveness, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the Association for Women in Science (AWIS), the Fox Chase Cancer Center, The Aspen Institute, and many others.
The effort is co-chaired by Congressmen Vern Ehlers, R-MI, and Rush Holt, D-NJ, and is being championed by Bart Gordon, chair of the House Science & Technology Committee. It includes several former and current presidential science advisory council members from both major political parties, and more than 12,000 scientists, engineers, and concerned citizens, including dozens of Nobel laureates and other top scientists and engineers, university presidents and business leaders. It is cosponsored by the AAAS and the Council on Competitiveness.
“It’s a new, global, low-cost knowledge economy. Dealing with that is going to be a pretty major policy question for the next president – one that affects the pocketbook of every American,” said Otto. “When you add global warming, the healthcare crisis, biotechnology, and transportation, it starts looking like many of the major issues the next president will face are not being seriously debated.” Otto said the group will announce a date and location and formally invite the candidates in the coming week.
ABOUT SCIENCE DEBATE 2008 – Launched in December 2007, Science Debate 2008 is a citizen initiative led by a group of largely non-scientists. Through word of mouth, the group has rapidly grown to include over 50 major institutions and more than 12,000 individual scientists, engineers, and concerned citizens.
Current list of organization & individual signers
-30-