Congressman Vern Ehlers, R-MI, and congressman Rush Holt, D-NJ, have agreed to co-chair the non-partisan initiative, called ScienceDebate2008.com, whose signers also include fourteen Nobel laureates, several university presidents, other congresspersons of both parties, the president of the Academy of Evangelical Scientists and Ethicists, and the heads of several of America's major science organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
These congressmen are apparently "also scientists" whatever that might mean. Anyway it's great news!
More at Intersection and at the ScienceDebate site.
Holt: PhD physics NYU
ReplyDeletehttp://holt.house.gov/about.shtml
Ehlers, PhD Physics UC Berkeley:
http://www.house.gov/ehlers/about_vern.shtml
Both have had interesting careers.
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I once attended a small party for Steve Westly (exec at eBay, but by then California State Controller, i.e.,, CFO of one of the world's larger economies).
He said words to the effect: "Sacramento isn't Silicon Valley. Please, government desperately needs more of you people with technical backgrounds."
Bravo!!! Its about time given that many of the core issues that need to be addressed in order to bring about necessary policy changes MUST be based on real science. As Bill McKibben stated so succinctly " The laws of Congress and the laws of physics have grown increasingly divergent, and the laws of physics are not likely to yield"
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