Election watch... - October 21, 2008
As we move closer to the finish line the candidates are still finding the time to talk science. Today:
Obama’s NASA attack
The candidates on climate change
Science stances
A Vote for Science part II
Obama’s NASA attack
Obama has been attacking McCain over NASA in a new advert, says the National Journal’s political advertising blog [hat tip: NASA Watch]:
McCain “wants to freeze NASA spending at last year's level,” says Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., in the ad. “So layoffs would loom larger, and NASA would continue to be starved of funds for future exploration.”
The Journal says this claim is based on McCain’s plan to freeze spending but it also points out he has previously pledged $2 billion in additional funding for NASA. The Washington Post quotes the Republican candidate as saying last week “If I’m elected president I won’t cut NASA funds like Senator Obama.”
The candidates on climate change
Andrew Revkin of the New York Times has been looking at the candidates and climate, both on his Dot Earth blog and in the paper proper:
Both candidates say that human-caused climate change is real and urgent, and that they would sharply diverge from President Bush’s course by proposing legislation requiring sharp cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by midcentury.
...
Environmentalists tend to prefer Mr. Obama’s approach, which many analysts say has less wiggle room and, in theory, sends a stronger message to companies that rely on fossil fuels to seek nonpolluting sources or reduce energy use.Several representatives of industries said that, if forced, they would prefer the less aggressive targets and looser terms of Mr. McCain’s plan. But some appear to think they will not need to choose for a long while in any case, given the state of the global economy.
Science stances
MSNBC’s Briefing Book has been taking a look at the candidates’ science stances.
In common with other such items highlighted here before, MSNBC finds there isn’t much difference.
“Their emphases are different, but when you come down to it, their policies are very similar, on paper,” say Kei Koizumi, director of the R&D Budget and Policy Program at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
A Vote for Science part II
Finally, the Vote for Science YouTube site we’ve previously mentioned now has more videos of scientists explaining who they’re voting for on it. So far they’re all backing Obama. Any scientists for McCain care to weigh in?
