A Televised Presidential Debate, About Science?

http://www.nationofchange.org/2015/06/07/a-televised-presidential-debate-about-science/

Science issues aren’t usually hot topics for presidential candidates, whose rhetoric tends to revolve more around jobs and the economy than space exploration and funding for energy research. But one organization wants to change that, and is pushing for 2016 presidential candidates to agree to a full debate on science issues, including climate change.

ScienceDebate, a group that started during the 2008 election, is working with campaigns and media outlets to try to convince them to air a general election debate on science issues. Sheril Kirshenbaum, executive director of the group, told ThinkProgress that she helped start the group in 2008 because she and her fellow co-founders weren’t hearing enough talk about science issues — including energy, climate change, health, and space exploration — between Barack Obama and John McCain.

The group didn’t succeed in getting a debate over science issues on TV — Kirshenbaum said both candidates originally agreed to the debate but then backed out — but it did get Obama and McCain to provide written responses on 14 science-related questions.The 2012 campaign was similar — candidates didn’t engage in a televised science debate, but they did answer questions about science that ScienceDebate sent them. In both cases, the questions were selected after whittling down thousands of submissions from the public.

Kirshenbaum is hopeful that this election, there will be a televised debate. She said the organization has gotten an earlier start this year than in previous elections, and has been talking with media outlets and campaigns to gauge interest. Her team is trying to get the word out to the public that the group exists, in order to garner support from people who are interested in seeing more science in political campaigns. They’re also soliciting question suggestions for a debate from the public and gathering signatures for a petition calling for a science debate.