Given their unwillingness to debate science on the campaign trail, I've been down on both McCain and Obama. However, I increasingly must acknowledge that even as McCain went and appointed an anti-science running mate and started scoring cheap political points by attacking government science projects, Obama has started to truly shine when it comes to taking science policy seriously.
Yeah, he's had scores of Nobel Laureates endorse him, but that's not my only evidence. The most impressive thing Obama has done, to my mind, is this recent letter to Ralph Cicerone, president of the National Academy of Sciences. As I wrote in my second-to-last Science Progress column, the NAS just did an important report on science appointments in the next administration. It's the kind of thing George W. Bush would have just ignored, but here's Obama writing back and saying, yes, he takes the report seriously and will appoint a high level presidential science adviser quickly. Moreover,
I will also issue an Executive Order establishing clear guidelines for the review and release of publicly-sponsored research, guaranteeing that results are released in a timely manner and are not distorted by ideological biases. In addition, I will strengthen protections for "whistleblowers" who report on any government attempts to distort or ignore scientific research. And I will establish clear guidelines for selecting and vetting members of science and technology advisory committees for the White House and government agencies on the basis of merit.
All of which shows that Obama and his staff are now seriously engaging at a high level with the concerns of the scientific community and taking its advice seriously. And (ignoring George W. Bush for a moment) that's, well...presidential.
Impressive, but not surprising from Senator Obama. He clearly displays what should have been all along, and now is not only possible, but probable!
It sure would be beautiful to have a president who understands what we should be doing as a major world power: Improving the world.
Thanks for posting this!
This is positive too:
http://climateprogress.org/2008/10/16/obama-to-declare-co2-a-dangerous-…
And of course, Obama has some real scientists like Harold Varmus for advisors, while McCain's science advisors look like a cast from Gilligan's Island. Seriously, Carly Fiorina as science advisor?
The candidates' surrogates have been talking about science as well. While it's not the same as the candidate speaking out on science and research funding, it does give insight into where they stand.
Research!America has a podcast from a recent discussion moderated by The New York Times' David Leonhardt at http://researchamerica.blogspot.com, and Kaiser has webcasts up about the health reform plans at http://kaisernetwork.org.