Endorsements

Individuals and organizations from across the political spectrum have signed the following petition:

"Given the many urgent scientific and technological challenges facing America and the rest of the world, the increasing need for accurate scientific information in political decision making, and the vital role scientific innovation plays in spurring economic growth, we call for public debates in which the U.S. presidential and congressional candidates share their views on science and technology, health and medicine, and the environment.""

"I support Science Debate because I do not believe that the overwhelming evidence on climate change should be a political tool. An informed populace is our greatest hope."
Kathleen Turner, Actor and Activist

"I support Science Debate because scientific issues inform almost all important public policy, from energy, to the environment, and from health to national security. Moreover, the economic engine driving modern civilization derives from technology based on fundamental curiosity driven research a generation earlier. Anyone running for high political office should care about these vital issues and should therefore have informed views about either how their public policy proposals derive from empirical knowledge, or who they can turn to for sound advice on these subjects. And the public needs to know if they are going to make an informed decision on who to vote for. This is central to the functioning of a healthy democracy."
Lawrence M. Krauss, Chair of the Science Advisory Committee

"As I’ve said time and again, we have to recognize there are roughly seven billion people in the world, half of whom make less than $2 a day. We cannot and would not want to compete with that. We have to compete at a higher level with a better equipped and skilled workforce than that of our global counterparts – and we do that by focusing on science, education and innovation. I’m confident that the same enthusiasm and coordinated effort that led to the passage of the America COMPETES Act will bring this debate to fruition. As Former Chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee and the father of a 10-year old daughter, I understand we cannot allow our children to become the first American generation to inherit a lower standard of living than their parents. Ensuring our kids have the best education and jobs available to them is a challenge all of us must undertake."
Bart Gordon, Former Congressman (D-TN- 6) and Former Chairman, U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology

"If we are going to successfully tackle the problem of energy - broadly defined as providing sufficient energy to support higher standards of living for a growing fraction of the world's population without creating intractable conflict over resources or irreparable harm to our environment, then substantial advances in the state of the art in energy generation, distribution, and end use are required. It seems clear that the linked problems of energy, environment, prosperity, and national security are part of the political debate. It is less clear whether there is an understanding that while it is desirable to make full use of the best available technologies this by itself falls far short of what is needed. Without a significant and sustained effort in longer term research and development we will not have solutions that lead us to a desirable future. We need to hear the extent to which the candidates understand that solving the energy problem is a science problem of the first order."
Thomas Mason, Director, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

"The United States has long been the driving force behind many of today’s greatest scientific and technological discoveries and innovations. Our advances in medicine and engineering have ensured that we have one of the highest standards of living across the globe. But, more and more, our dominance in the marketplace has been undermined by our inability and unwillingness to fund education, research and development at competitive levels with other countries. America’s leaders already have the authority and the resources needed to stimulate and sustain a fertile scientific environment. Now they must demonstrate the willpower to lead, the open mindedness to inspire, and the generous spirit to support the advancement of cutting- edge knowledge for future generations of Americans and the world."
Donna Shalala, President, Clinton Foundation, Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services

"We are selecting a leader for a society dependent on science and technology and we have yet to show the slightest bit of curiosity regarding their views on any matters in either field. We have seen what seven years of negligence and disdain for science has done to American pre-eminence. This debate is not a science test meant to trip up the candidates—but a means for the electorate to make an informed decision regarding the candidate’s judgement and capacity to lead us in the 21st century."
Ann Druyan, Emmy Award-winning American write and Peabody Award-winning producer; CEO, Cosmos Studios

"It is astounding that for all the talk of the future and the bromides about “change” the presidential election has not so far focused on the agents of technological change on which America’s economic future depends."
Harold Evans, British-born journalist and writer, Editor of The Sunday Times from 1967 to 1981