January 2008 Archives

Presidents have had science advisers in one form or another since Franklin D. Roosevelt. The position gained new importance in 1976 when Congress established the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). The OSTP has a mandate to advise the President and others in the Executive Office of the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs.

According to its website, the OSTP and science adviser, who until recently held the title "assistant to the president", has had some success in the past in pushing programs such as the Human Genome Project and getting support for doubling the budget of the National Institutes of Health.

As previous science advisers told Physics Today when current science adviser John Marburger was nominated in 2001, access to the president is critical. Through direct contact, the science adviser not only can discuss policy with the president, but he gains status as a true "insider," an invaluable asset when dealing with the federal bureaucracy.

Neal Lane, a former science adviser to the Clinton administration, told the New York Times for an article about the politicization of science, "Your influence depends on whether people around the president feel you have something to add."

Whether Marburger has had the access he would like in the Bush administration, remains in question, D. James Baker, the former head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has stated that "the administration has backed away from listening to the science adviser position."

In that regard, despite the experience and long list of eminent scientists providing advice to the Clinton, Obama, Romney, and McCain candidacies, only John Edwards and Hillary Clinton have explicitly stated that they will return the science adviser position to its previous rank of "assistant to the president."

Related Links
John Edward's position on scientific investment
Hillary Clinton's postion on scientific advice

The Science Adviser, Seed magazine, 4 January 2008
Presidential Candidates Dodge Tough Science Topics, FOX News, 4 January 2008
Political Science, The New York Times, 4 September 2005
Past Science Advisers Counsel Bush Nominee, Physics Today, 1 August 2001

Ron Paul has stated that he is against military activity in almost every circumstance when war isn’t declared. He states that because the US went back and offered deals to the North Koreans after they exploded a nuclear weapon, while invading Iraq, a country that did not have an atomic bomb, the US is offering an “tremendous incentive” to non-nuclear states to develop nuclear weapons. He has no other statement on the future status of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.

From the 2007 GOP Values Voter Presidential Debate Sep 17, 2007
Ron Paul stated that the government should be very small and that the government should not be expected to fund everything..

According to Thomas.gov

On April 27, 2007, Ron Paul voted against H.R. 362, the 10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds Science and Math Scholarship Act.

GOP Values Voter Presidential Debate Sep 17, 2007 Ron Paul stated that he would approve of tax credits for religious schools.

Hillary for President: ...I’ll improve math and science education, and open up science and engineering to more of our people. And I’ll end the assault on science waged by the Bush Administration.

Hillary for President: Hillary has a bold and comprehensive plan to address America's energy and environmental challenges that will establish a green, efficient economy and create as many as five million new jobs.

Huckabee has not outlined clear positions on the federal funding of science. He has pledge to simplify the immigration process for highly-skilled and highly-educated applicants.

Huckabee has also promised to increase funding for research into all avenues of alternative energy: nuclear, wind, solar, hydrogen, clean coal, biodiesel, and biomass.

Although having a number of educators providing advice on education policy, such as Eileen Weiser of the National Assessment Governing Board (http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/PressReleases/b501220e-3c9f-4ff7-85fd-524ce99b66c9.htm) and Phil Handy, former chairman of the Florida State Board of Education (http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/PressReleases/8ec58462-84b1-4f6b-88dd-80232036fc09.htm), McCain has yet to officially release an education policy.

During the 9 December 2007 republican primary debate on Univision McCain (http://www.ontheissues.org/2007_Univision_GOP.htm) stated

"Choice and competition is the key to success in education in America. That means charter schools, that means home schooling, it means vouchers, it means rewarding good teachers and finding bad teachers another line of work. It means rewarding good performing schools, and it really means in some cases putting bad performing schools out of business. I want every American parent to have a choice, a choice as to how they want their child educated, and I guarantee you the competition will dramatically increase the level of education in America."

McCain has also suggested turning education policy back to individual states and offering federal money through unrestricted block grants. He will keep most aspects of No Child Left Behind legalization in place.

Mike Huckabee for President: ...There is no way Iran will acquire nuclear weapons on my watch. But before I look parents in the eye to explain why I had to put their son’s or daughter’s life at risk in military action against Iran, I want to know that I have done everything possible to avoid that conflict...

On June 5 at the CNN GOP debate in New Hampshire, Gov. Huckabee stated that he would consider a pre-emptive nuclear strike on Iran to stop their development of nuclear weapons.

Gov. Huckabee has made no statement on the role of the military or the funding of the nuclear weapon stockpile since running for office.

Mike Huckabee for President: I want to provide our children what I call the "Weapons of Mass Instruction" - art and music - the secret, effective weapons that will help us to be competitive and creative. It is crucial that children flex both the left and right sides of the brain. We all know the cliché of thinking outside the box: I want our children to be so creative that they think outside the cardboard factory.

NASA Watch: "[Republican presidential candidate John McCain] also said he strongly supports missions to Mars and that Florida should continue to play a major role in space exploration. "There's too much invested there. There's infrastructure that's very expensive and very extensive there," he said."

From his 2005 book "Character is Destiny":

"Darwin helped explain nature’s laws. He did not speculate, in his published theories at least, on the origin of life. He did not exclude God, for Whom the immensity of time is but a moment, from our presence. The only undeniable challenge the theory of evolution poses to Christian beliefs is its obvious contradiction of the idea that God created the world as it is in less than a week. But our faith is certainly not so weak that it can be shaken to learn that a biblical metaphor is not literal history. Nature doesn’t threaten our faith. On the contrary, when we contemplate its beauty and mysteries we cannot quiet in our heart an insistent impulse of belief that for all its variations and inevitable change, before its creation, in a time before time, God let it be so, and, thus, its many splendors and purposes abide in His purpose.”

Salon.com: On energy, I would say that the reliance on the government to devise a policy is a fallacy. I would advocate that the free market take care of that. The government shouldn't be directing research and development because they are bound and determined to always misdirect money to political cronies. The government ends up subsidizing things like the corn industry to develop ethanol and it turns out that it's not economically feasible. So, my answer to energy is to let the market work. Let supply and demand make the decision. Let prices make the decision. That is completely different than the bureaucratic and cronyism approach.

On May 3, 2007, MSNBC hosted a debate for the GOP presidential candidates at the Reagan Library in California. Near the end of the program, moderator Chris Matthews asked the candidates, "I'm curious, is there anybody on the stage that does not agree, believe in evolution?" Three hands went up, one of them belonging, naturally enough, to Mike Huckabee. Ron Paul, however, kept his hand down.

At a November 1 meeting of the Spartanburg (SC) GOP Executive Committee, Ron Paul was asked about this incident:

"Well, at first I thought it was a very inappropriate question, you know, for the presidency to be decided on a scientific matter, and I think it's a theory, a theory of evolution, and I don't accept it, you know, as a theory, but I think [ it probably doesn't bother me. It's not the most important issue for me to make the difference in my life to understand the exact origin. I think ] the creator that I know created us, everyone of us, and created the universe, and the precise time and manner, I just don't think we're at the point where anybody has absolute proof on either side. [So I just don't . . . if that were the only issue, quite frankly, I would think it's an interesting discussion, I think it's a theological discussion, and I think it's fine, and we can have our . . . if that were the issue of the day, I wouldn't be running for public office."]

Grist: A look at Fred Thompson's environmental platform and record:

While there is no controversy in the scientific community over the basic facts of evolution, advocates of creationism continue to challenge the teaching of evolution in U.S. schools. Do you believe in natural evolution as a fundamental biological process? Would you advocate keeping creationism in its various incarnations, including intelligent design, out of public school classes?

Gravel is quoted by LiveScience as stating that creationism should not be taught in schools:

“We thought we had made a big advance with the Scopes monkey trial … My God, evolution is a fact, and if these people are disturbed by being the descendants of monkeys and fishes, they’ve got a mental problem....That ends the story as far as I’m concerned.”

According to Democratic operative James Carville on CNN (May 2007) "Every Democratic candidate believes in evolution." (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/08/acd.01.html)

There is no statement on Dennis Kucinich's campaign web site about the teaching of evolution and creationism in the science classroom or any recorded response to a question on the teaching of evolution. Kucinich has stated in the past that he believes in the separation of church and state.

JoinRudy2008: “Every potential solution must be pursued – from nuclear power to increased energy exploration to more aggressive investment in alternative energy sources. I believe that America can achieve energy independence through a national strategy that emphasizes diversification, innovation, and conservation.” – Mayor Rudy Giuliani

JoinRudy2008: Education is power in an information economy. American workers must be the best trained and prepared workforce in the world in order to successfully compete in the global economy.

* Promote science and mathematics through technical certification or an associate degree.

* Advance successful training programs leading to competitive skills the market demands.

* Allow early withdrawal from retirement accounts for qualified retraining programs.

* Expand the number of H1B Visas for skilled foreign workers to meet market demand.

“The next U.S. president must also press ahead with building a national missile defense system. America can no longer rely on Cold War doctrines such as "mutual assured destruction" in the face of threats from hostile, unstable regimes. Nor can it ignore the possibility of nuclear blackmail. Rogue regimes that know they can threaten America, our allies, and our interests with ballistic missiles will behave more aggressively, including by increasing their support for terrorists. On the other hand, the knowledge that America and our allies could intercept and destroy incoming missiles would not only make blackmail less likely but also decrease the appeal of ballistic missile programs and so help to slow their development and proliferation. It is well within our capability to field a layered missile defense capable of shielding us from the arsenals of the world's most dangerous states.” (Foreign Affairs, September/October 2007)

JoinRudy2008: Expand Charter School Options: Rudy commits to the expansion of charter schooling, equitable treatment for charter schools in funding and facilities, and efforts to ensure that local districts are not the sole chartering authorities.

Education is power in an information economy. American workers must be the best trained and prepared workforce in the world in order to successfully compete in the global economy.

* Promote science and mathematics through technical certification or an associate degree.

* Advance successful training programs leading to competitive skills the market demands.

John McCain 2008: McCain is a proponent of nuclear energy and believes that tax credits and other incentives will reduce America’s dependence on oil and gas.

“Our dependency on foreign oil and the way we use hydrocarbons is a major strategic vulnerability, a threat to our security, our economy and the well being of our planet,” says McCain (12/10/2007).

No details on McCain’s nuclear weapons policy exist on his web site. However, his voting record shows McCain voted against ratifying the comprehensive test ban treaty in October 1999. According to the November/December 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs magazine “"The nuclear nonproliferation regime is broken for one clear reason: the mistaken assumption behind the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) that nuclear technology can spread without nuclear weapons eventually following."

Mitt Romney for President 2008: "We use about 25 percent of the world's oil supply to power our economy, but according to the Department of Energy, we possess only 1.7 percent of the world's crude oil reserves. Our military and economic strength depend on our becoming energy independent – moving past symbolic measures to actually produce as much energy as we use." (Governor Mitt Romney, Rising To A New Generation Of Global Challenges, Foreign Affairs, July/August 2007)

Mitt Romney for President 2008: He supports raising the cap on H1-B visas so that more workers with high tech skills can enter the country.

High school education and energy research will be a priority for a Romney administration.

There are no clear documents available to specify what a Romney administration will fund for areas of science other than energy research.

According to media reports (http://www.prioritiesnh.org/blog/?p=120) Gov. Romney will not reduce the US nuclear weapons stockpile due to the potential threat of Iran. On April 26, 2007 in New York (http://www.cfr.org/publication/13258/) he outlined a new international initiative that would make nuclear trafficking a crime against humanity, on par with genocide and war crimes. “Countries that want to use nuclear power for peaceful purposes should convene to reaffirm their commitment to non-proliferation” and the US should promote the development of an international uranium fuel bank.

Mitt Romney for President 2008: Mitt Romney believes that good teachers should be rewarded for their hard work and dedication to the important cause of educating our children. He will support performance-based pay and other initiatives that encourage our best teachers to teach in our highest-need schools.

A Romney adminstration will focus our efforts in fields like math and science, while promoting innovative approaches such as charter schools and public-private partnerships. Governor Romney will ensure that the workers of the future have the intellectual capital and skills they need to compete in the new global marketplace.

The New York Times: “I believe that God designed the universe and created the universe,” Mr. Romney said in an interview this week. “And I believe evolution is most likely the process he used to create the human body.”

ABC News: "If you want to believe that you and your family came from apes, I'll accept that....I believe there was a creative process."

Huckabee said he has no problem with teaching evolution as a theory in the public schools and he doesn't expect schools to teach creationism.

"We shouldn't indoctrinate kids in school," he said. "I wouldn't want them teaching creationism as if it's the only thing that they should teach."

Arkansas Times: The current NYC mayor spoke strongly in favor of teaching evolution in public school science classes saying, “It boggles the mind that nearly two centuries after Darwin, and 80 years after John Scopes was put on trial, the country is still debating the validity of evolution,” and adding, “This not only devalues science, it cheapens theology. As well as condemning these students to an inferior education, it ultimately hurts their professional opportunities.”

Given that Bloomberg ran on the Republican ticket with the former mayor’s endorsement, Giuliani was asked if he also supported Bloomberg’s strong stance in favor of evolution education. In a rather long response incorporating ideas such as “academic freedom” and “freedom of religion”, Giuliani eventually articulated that “Darwin’s theories are a very accepted part of science,” and added “I am a Christian, and I can accommodate that to my beliefs…”

Media Bistro: "It's not 'faith' if you are absolutely certain," Obama said, noting that he didn't believe his lack of "faith" would hurt him a national election. "Evolution is more grounded in my experience than angels."

CNN: Democrats discuss faith on CNN

JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe in evolution.

O’BRIEN: What do you say to all the people — and there are millions of people who go to church every Sunday and who are told very clearly by their pastors that, in fact, the Earth was created in six days, that it’s about creationism? Are those people wrong? Are their pastors wrong?

EDWARDS: No. First of all, I grew up in the church and I grew up as a Southern Baptist, was baptized in the Baptist Church when I was very young, a teenager at the time. And I was taught many of the same things. And I think it’s perfectly possible to make our faith, my faith belief system consistent with a recognition that there is real science out there and scientific evidence of evolution. I don’t think those things are inconsistent. I think a belief in God and a belief in Christ, in my case, is not in any way inconsistent with that.

The New York Times: Mrs. Clinton also tacitly criticized opponents of evolution. Some of the 2008 Republican presidential candidates have said flatly that they do not believe in evolution, while other Republican contenders have said they support teaching evolution, intelligent design and creationist ideas.

“I believe in evolution, and I am shocked at some of the things that people in public life have been saying,” Mrs. Clinton said in the interview. “I believe that our founders had faith in reason and they also had faith in God, and one of our gifts from God is the ability to reason.”
“I am grateful that I have the ability to look at dinosaur bones and draw my own conclusions,” she added, saying, too, that antibiotic-resistant bacteria is evidence that “evolution is going on as we speak.”

The Clinton attack on White House science policy is not especially new; Mrs. Clinton has used the phrase “war on science” frequently on the campaign trail, and it has reliably drawn applause from Democratic audiences.

Ron Paul 2008: The federal government has proven itself untrustworthy with environmental policy by facilitating polluters, subsidizing logging in the National Forests, and instituting one-size-fits-all approaches that too often discriminate against those they are intended to help.

The key to sound environmental policy is respect for private property rights. The strict enforcement of property rights corrects environmental wrongs while increasing the cost of polluting.

Joe Biden for President: Strengthening Our Education System: Moving Toward A Sixteen Year System

Joe Biden would replace the 20th century 12-year school system with a 16-year system. He would start education earlier so that every parent who wants to can send their child to two years of preschool and make sure that students can afford at least two years of higher education.

CBS News: Katie Couric Asks The Candidates In "Primary Questions:" Is The Global Warming Threat Overblown?

Romney: I think the risks of climate change are real. And that you're seeing real climate change. And I think human activity is contributing to it. I would develop within this country sources of energy which would allow us to be free of foreign oil. But sources that don't emit CO2. And that's nuclear power, clean-burning coal, all of our renewable resources and so forth. I also wanna see much greater efficiencies in our autos, in our homes, in our businesses. That'll get is energy independent.

I don't wanna have America unilaterally think it's somehow gonna stop global warming. They don't call it America warming. They call it global warming. And that means China, which is the biggest CO2 emitter in the world, as well as other nations, like Indonesia and Brazil, are gonna have to be a part of the global effort. So Kyoto was wrong, because it left major polluting nations out.

John McCain 2008: McCain supports a mandatory cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions and will push policies to limit carbon emissions by harnessing market forces that will bring advanced technologies, such as nuclear energy, to the market faster. In turn this will reduce US dependence on foreign supplies of energy, and see to it that America leads in a way that ensures all nations do their rightful share to combat global warming. He will also push the developmend of “clean” coal technologies and apply a moratorium on building new inefficient coal-power plants.

JoinRudy2008: America possesses 27% of the world’s coal. We must commercialize clean coal technologies, including carbon sequestration, so we can utilize this vast domestic resource.

No statement on whether a Giuliani administration will issue a moratorium on coal-fired power plants that do not capture and sequester CO2.

Citizens for Global Solutions: I do support U.S. participation in binding international climate agreements. It is time for us to work with other nations, bilaterally and multilaterally, to create new treaties and agreements—stronger than Kyoto—as well as financing structures, that will change the world’s energy and climate policies as well as our own.

Citizens for Global Solutions: I was Energy Secretary under President Clinton. My department was responsible for the design, manufacture, and maintenance of our stockpile of nuclear weapons. These weapons are not abstractions to me: to see one of them is to be astounded that millions of deaths can be compressed into such a tiny package. To know intimately our nuclear arsenal is to know intimately how our species could destroy itself. Under my administration, we will lead the world toward the reduction of nuclear arsenals, not their augmentation.

Kucinich for President: A Kucinich administration would immediately put the United States in the forefront of solving the global warming crisis by rejoining the Kyoto accord and implementing its recommendations. On the domestic front, I am an original co-sponsor in the House of Representatives of HR 1950, the Safe Climate Act of 2007. This is an act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect the climate introduced by Rep. Henry Waxman of California. As President I will continue to support the goals and targets of this important piece of legislation.

Kucinich for President: There has to be a renewable energy portfolio of at least 20% by 2010. And that means introducing wind, solar, hydrogen, geothermal, biomass, and all of the options that must be available and need incentivizing. That also means withdrawing incentives for the production of nonrenewable energy.

Kucinich for President: Dennis attended the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, advocating a plan with Mikhail Gorbachev for a Global Green Deal that would enable the introduction of $50 billion of new solar projects around the world. It will be a major initiative to use our country's leadership in sustainable energy production to provide jobs to Americans, to reduce energy use here at home, and to partner with developing nations to provide their people with inexpensive, local renewable-energy technologies.

This is at the heart of his proposed Works Green Administration (WGA) which would couple a new WPA program to the EPA and NASA in restoring America's infrastructure and providing sustainable energy at the same time.

Kucinich for President: The Kucinich administration will push Congress to ratifiy the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, re-ratify the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, and ratify the biological and chemical weapons convention.

Kucinich for President: Provide universal education to all Americans from pre-school through college. This would be funded by cutting the Defense budget by 15%. All kids would be expected to attend public schools.

Mike Gravel for President 2008: Senator Gravel believes that global climate change is a matter of national security and survivability of the planet. As President, he will act swiftly to reduce America's carbon footprint in the world by initiating legislation to tax carbon at the source and cap carbon emissions. He is also committed to leading the fight against global deforestation, which today is second only to the energy sector as a source of greenhouses gases. However, any legislation will have little impact on the global environment if we do not work together with other global polluters. China, India and under-developed nations all work together fighting climate change can only be effective if it is a collective global effort. As President, Senator Gravel will see that the U.S. launches and leads a massive global scientific effort, integrating the world's scientific and engineering community, to end energy dependence on oil and integrate the world's scientific community in this task.

Mike Gravel for President 2008: “The best way to solve the energy problem is to let prices rise so that alternative energies can become more economic. “ August 2007

Senator Gravel states that wind power can be used to convert water to hydrogen, and that the existing energy infrastructure (vehicles, fuel stations etc..) can be modified to run on hydrogen, probably within a five year timeframe. Gravel would also raise CAFE standards immediately so that within three to five years the US would have the same standard as Europe. Gravel would outlaw coal-fired power plants and convert them over to hydrogen-powered facilities. Gravel also states that if the US can have large electrical base-load plants fed by hydrogen, then the US doesn't need to build new nuclear power plants. He is reluctant to see corn-biofuels as an energy solution as it costs more energy to produce a gallon of biofuel from corn than it does to use conventional fuel, and he is worried about its effects on global food production (August 2007)

Gravel would also like to push electric maglev train systems throughout the country in order to reduce air pollution and CO2 emissions.

Following statements by Mike Gravel at public events:

Gavel believes in cutting the US nuclear arsenal from 11,000 warheads to a couple of hundred (November 2006)

Gravel has stated that he thinks programs such as the reliable replacement warhead program is expanding US nuclear capability (August 2007) and that the US is the greatest violator of the non-proliferation treaty (April 2007).

Gravel has also publicly stated that threatening countries with nuclear weapons is the basis of an immoral foreign policy (April 2007).

He is in favor of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Investing in education provides a pathway to a thriving national economy, to individual and family economic opportunity, and to the reduction of poverty. A successful education system requires the commitment of families, the community, and government. It's time to re-order our national budget priorities in order to improve the American education system. Parent education and access to preschool programs such as Head Start need to be expanded so that children from lowincome families are equally ready to benefit from elementary school. Universal pre-kindergarten would also enhance readiness. Encouraging our students to be the best they can be will require flexibility from the federal and state governments, within school systems, and from groups with a stake in educational success. Flexibility may mean extended school days and summer learning opportunities or extended school years. It may mean online and broadcast courses to provide access to highly qualified teachers. It may mean charter schools to address the needs of local communities, smaller classes, enrichment programs for students at risk, and vocational options. One thing we know for sure: No Child Left Behind has left too many children behind. It needs to be reformed and adequately funded. It needs to acknowledge the need for a fuller curriculum that encourages critical thinking—not just math and science test-taking. Ahigh school diploma should be the minimum goal for all students; without it, our children will be condemned to a substandard economic existence.

Citizens for Global Solutions: As the world’s largest per capita emitter, most vibrant economy, and technological leader, the United States must assert leadership to fight global warming both at home and abroad. By adopting an aggressive cap on domestic emissions, the U.S. can begin to confront the problem while recapturing the moral authority to lead the world toward an effective and equitable solution. While the United States must lead, we must ensure that China, India, Brazil and all our major trading partners also move quickly to confront this shared global challenge.

Obama 08: Barack Obama believes we have a moral, environmental, economic, and security imperative to address our dependence on foreign oil and tackle climate change in a serious, sustainable manner.

* Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade auction program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050, a level recommended by top scientists to avoid calamitous impacts. An auction ensures that all polluters pay for every ton of emissions they release, rather than giving these emission rights away for free to coal and oil companies. Without a profit motive or incentive to innovate, corporations do not spend time or money to develop new clean ways of doing business. Obama will start reducing emissions immediately in his administration by establishing strong annual reduction targets, and he'll also implement a mandate of reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

Obama 08: Invest in the Sciences: An Obama administration supports doubling federal funding for basic research, changing the posture of our federal government from being one of the most anti-science administrations in American history to one that embraces science and technology. This will foster home-grown innovation, help ensure the competitiveness of US technology-based businesses, and ensure that 21st century jobs can and will grow in America. As a share of the Gross Domestic Product, American federal investment in the physical sciences and engineering research has dropped by half since 1970. Yet, it often has been federally-supported basic research that has generated the innovation to create markets and drive economic growth. For example, one recent report demonstrated how federally supported research in fiber optics and lasers helped spur the telecommunications revolution.

Citizens for Global Solutions: America must not rush to produce a new generation of nuclear warheads. And we should take advantage of recent technological advances to build bipartisan consensus behind ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

The best way to keep America safe is not to threaten terrorists with nuclear weapons – it’s to keep nuclear weapons and nuclear materials away from terrorists. That’s why I’ve worked with Republican Senator Dick Lugar to pass a law accelerating our pursuit of loose nuclear materials. And that’s why I’ll lead a global effort to secure all loose nuclear materials during my first term in office.

Barack Obama will emphasize the importance of technology literacy, ensuring that all public school children are equipped with the necessary science, technology and math skills to succeed in the 21st century economy. Access to computers and broadband connections in public schools must be coupled with qualified teachers, engaging curricula, and a commitment to developing skills in the field of technology. This is central to the competitiveness of our nation's technology sector and of our citizens. Obama also believes that we must strengthen math and science education to help develop a skilled workforce and promote innovation. He will work to increase our number of science and engineering graduates, encourage undergraduates studying math and science to pursue graduate studies, and work to increase the representation of minorities and women in the science and technology pipeline, tapping the diversity of America to meet the increasing demand for a skilled workforce. If we export our best software and engineering jobs to developing countries, it is less likely that America will benefit from the next generation innovations in nanotechnology, electronics, and biotechnology. We must have a skilled workforce so that we can retain and grow jobs requiring 21st century skills rather than forcing employers to find skilled workers abroad.

Chris Dodd for President: Reduce 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. By mandating the framework of the Sanders "Cap-and-trade" legislation and the toughest, most transparent rules possible, we can make serious reductions to carbon emissions every decade. By 2020, the U.S. must reduce its emissions by 15% of 80 percent below 1990 levels; by 2040, emissions must be reduced by 2/3 of 80 percent; and by 2050, emissions must be reduced to a level that is 80 percent.
* A portion of the allocated credits will be auctioned off and revenues directed to the Corporate Carbon Tax Trust Fund.

Chris Dodd for President: The Goals:

Council for a Livable World: According to questions asked to Dodd by the Council for a Livable World, Dodd supports attempts towards moving to a nuclear free world, and the U.S. in particular in leading an effort to reducing nuclear stockpiles (7 August 2007). Dodd also opposes the reliable replacement Warhead program, and considers ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty a priority for his administration. He also supports a multilateral international ban on placing weapons in space.

Council for a Livable World: A January 2007 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Senator Sam Nunn, and former Secretary of Defense William Perry called for moving toward a "world free of nuclear weapons" and urged the United States to lead an international effort to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles. Do you support or oppose their proposal?

JOHN EDWARDS - I support this proposal. We should aspire to a nuclear-free world. Working with the international community to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles will be one of my top priorities as president. The very existence of nuclear weapons and the possibility that new states might acquire them presents one of the greatest threats to international peace and stability. States like Iran and North Korea can sell dangerous technologies to terrorists intent on doing us harm. Nearly two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, hundreds of tons of nuclear materials - enough material to produce over 60,000 Hiroshima-size bombs - and 20,000 nuclear warheads remain at risk in Russia. A recent study concluded that 60% of the country's nuclear materials have not been secured. Unfortunately, the Bush administration has failed to address this challenge in any serious, sustained way - a policy failure that must be reversed.

Chris Dodd for President: * Quality, Experienced Teachers In Every School: The Dodd plan will double the number of nationally board certified teachers and incentivize them to go where they are needed most – low performing, high poverty schools. By paying for the cost of national board certification for any teacher who commits to teach in a high need school for five years and providing them with a salary supplement of $10,000 a year, the Dodd plan will ensure that every school has experienced teachers.

CBS News: Katie Couric Asks The Candidates In "Primary Questions:" Is The Global Warming Threat Overblown?

Edwards: It seems to me that every time we get more scientific information it indicates the problem is more severe, more serious than we though. So, no, I don't think it's being over-hyped.

Citizens for Global Solutions: America’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol and refusal to participate in any international effort to deal with the tremendous challenges of climate change as well as other unilateral steps by the Bush administration did damage to our international standing. The Bush administration has ignored the problem and wasted time that should have been spent fighting climate change. We must return our attention to this most vital of concerns.

Hillary for President: Hillary has a bold and comprehensive plan to address America's energy and environmental challenges that will establish a green, efficient economy and create as many as five million new jobs.

Hillary for President: Hillary Clinton proposed a 9-point plan to renew the nation’s commitment to research; help create the premier science, engineering, technology and mathematics workforce; and upgrade our innovation infrastructure:

Citizens for Global Solutions: When I am President, the United States will once again be a leader in reducing the roles and risks of nuclear weapons, and preventing them from falling into the wrong hands. I support the goal of every president from Truman to Clinton of ending nuclear weapons, and I support the effort that Sam Nunn, Bill Perry, Henry Kissinger, and George Shultz are leading to restore American leadership in this area.

CBS News: Katie Couric Asks The Candidates In "Primary Questions:" Is The Global Warming Threat Overblown?

Thompson: There are a lot of unanswered questions. We don't know to the extent this is a cyclical thing. This may or may not effect very much. The extremists, I think, are the ones who want to do drastic things to our economy before we have more answers as to how much good we can do, and whether or not people in the other parts of the world are going to contribute. It's the fact that our entitlements are bankrupting the next generation. We're spending the money of those yet to be born and we can't continue that way.

Mike Huckabee for President: I believe that we must be good stewards of our environment and support many paths to reducing our emission of greenhouse gases, such as more nuclear power and alternative sources of clean energy. As part of our overall effort, I also support a cap and trade system, which has worked well for reduction of sulphur dioxide emissions. However, I do not agree with those who want all allowances to be auctioned off because I believe that will create too great a burden on businesses. The alternative to cap and trade is a carbon tax, which I don’t support.

Fred 08: Fred Thompson believes that every child in America deserves a quality education, and that every parent should determine how that is best accomplished. Despite the tens of billions of dollars spent on education by Washington each year, and the hundreds of federal education programs now in place, our children are still falling behind, particularly in subjects crucial to success in the global economy in which we live. Given the importance of education to our nation's security, prosperity, and unity, we should all be alarmed and committed to solving this problem.

Citizens for Global Solutions: The energy crisis is serious. Due to global warming, we could live on a dramatically different planet within decades. Climate change could cause hundreds of millions of people to suffer water shortages and tens of millions to be flooded out of their homes annually. By 2080, hundreds of millions could starve. Meanwhile, America's need for imported oil forces it to rely on unstable and even hostile countries.

John Edwards 08: "Americans have always taken impossible tasks and turned them into reality. Whether we are the country of the 21st century depends on what all of us do today." – John Edwards

John Edwards 08: “There is nothing more important to our future than our country's schools. We all pay a price when young people who could someday find the cure for AIDS or make a fuel cell work are sitting on a stoop because they didn't get the education they needed." -- John Edwards

Mike Huckabee For President:

When in the Senate Fred Thompson openly oppose the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty that would put restrictions on testing of nuclear weapons.

According to white papers at Fred08 Fred Thompson is committed to:

Fred 08: A Thompson administration would encourage students and teachers to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math-fields that are crucial to our security, competitiveness, and prosperity.

The Thompson campaign has not issued a statement on evolution but on 27 October 2007, official campaign spokeswoman, Karen Hanretty said in a University of Chicago radio show

"I think that what he is most concerned about is that families, parents who sit on local school boards, local elected school boards ought to be making those decisions for themselves."

When asked if Thompson "thinks intelligent design is a credible curriculum."

Information from an interview with TechCrunch

Senator Gravel has stated he is in favor of eliminating the quota on H1B visas and that the US education system should be our number 1 priority. .

“we have a higher education system that it is to be admired but it is slowly deteriorating. When you stop and realize the cutback on Chinese students, Japanese students, Indian students, foreign students in general coming to American universities and going to other universities in other parts of the world is the beginning of the demise of our ascendancy in higher education, and its because of the visa problems...its this national paranoia that we’re fed with fear of foreigners, and so you’re going to feel it in the high tech area because you’re gonna see the new high tech areas centered in China and in Japan and in India and though we may have a lot of entrepreneurialism, they are going to develop their own sense of entrepreneurialism when we don’t let them into this country and participate in what we have to offer.”