With less than 30 days until Election Day, it might be worth taking a look at each of the major party candidates’ views on Science, Space, and STEM in general.
Space:
State of Space Exploration:
Space is cool, I don’t know of anyone that would deny that fact. Just in the past year, we have seen the surface of Pluto, gravitational waves were discovered, and the Europeans were able to land a spacecraft on moving comet. However, as we all know it’s expensive to do all of those things and with no clear funding path currently installed it may grow harder. However, the private sector space exploration is doing quite well with SpaceX planning for a mission to Mars during 2018 along with numerous supply runs to the International Space Station.
Hilary Clinton:
She aligns almost perfectly with the Democratic Party’s platform in that they believe in “continuing the spirit of discovery” that has led to such great space advances in the last half a century. In a recent Scientific American post, her camp responded saying “we must maintain our nation’s leadership in space with a program that balances science, technology, and exploration” Full link is below, it’s a long read but a recommended one. She is open to partnering with the private sector like SpaceX but feels it more the responsibility of the government to fund basic research rather than applied space initiatives.
Donald Trump:
He believes a strong space program will encourage more students to seek STEM educational outcomes which in turn can provide billions of dollars in investment of our economy. He did also state however that NASA could be “a luxury our country can’t afford.” However, he is quick to point out the infrastructural, economic, and defense benefits the space program has provided to our country in the last half century. He and the Republican supporting working with the private space sector to expand access to space and encourages collaboration with our global partners to advance exploration.
STEM Education:
State of STEM Education:
According to the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment[check it out here], the good ole’ USA is right in the middle of the STEM ranks, with a 35th in math and 27th in science out of 64 countries. With our neighbors to the north coming in at 13th and 10th respectively, with Hong Kong and Singapore leading the way internationally; add in the fact that sadly we are lacking in terms of giving women and minorities the ability to study these STEM fields. These disparities continue in the fields of computer science and physics AP tests, which play a role in the influence of STEM in a student’s career path.
Hilary Clinton:
She is a large advocate for wanting to boost the number of students studying computer science and related fields. With estimates showing the number of computer science related jobs will be at nearly 1.4 million by 2020, it is no wonder she is in strong support of Obama’s “Computer Science for All” initiative [read more about it here]. She is in favor of creating schools, but public and charter schools, to provide more opportunities for minorities to study the STEM fields.
Donald Trump:
Par for the course of the Republican Party, Trump believes that “education should be local and locally managed.” He does agree that the federal government should make sure that education opportunities of all sorts are available to everyone. Additionally, he has indicated that he would like to have former Republican Presidential Candidate Ben Carson be very involved in the education, due to his long record of expertise in that area.
Climate Change:
State of the Climate Change Debate:
Measurements have recorded a sharp rise in global temperatures in the last half century or so, which are un-parallel with the previous millennium. It is believed that the warming is due to the fossil fuel emissions over the past 100-200 years; direct observations and computer simulations have shown this to be true at least to an extent. Scientists warn that this could lead to a rise in sea levels and varying rainfall patterns which can have large effects on global health and economy.
Hilary Clinton:
During her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, she said “I believe in science. . . we can save our planet while creating millions of good-paying clean energy jobs”. She has goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2025, with that number trending upward to 80 percent by 2050. Part of this plan is including a “Clean Energy Challenge” totaling roughly $60 billion in new spending to promote clean energy solutions. She hopes that within ten years of taking office she hopes to cut oil consumption by third relative to today’s levels.
Donald Trump:
Mr. Trump disagrees with the Paris climate convention that was signed by the United States and 194 other countries from around the world. He has stated that he believes the Obama administration’s climate initiatives have put an undue burden on the economy and as President he would undo many of them. His campaign has stated that removing these restrictions could increase wages by $30 billion annually, and create millions of new jobs.
They always say the best voter is the best informed voter, so there are facts about the campaigns their feelings about just a few of the important science topics. As we head into the home stretch of the election cycle, I hope this piece allows for a broader to be painted of each of the candidates.
The article posted by The Scientific American can be accessed by clicking here.
