Organizers of a proposed presidential debate on science and technology have set a date and place: April 18, in Philadelphia, just before the Pennsylvania primary. All four viable presidential candidates have been invited. Will they show up to debate the United States’ paltry investment in energy research, the necessity of taxing fossil-fuel use, and more? “This has never been about a science quiz,” says Shawn Otto, CEO of debate organizer Science Debate, Inc. (really!). “It has always been about the big policy issues facing the next president … whether we’re going to do something about climate change or not, what kind of world your kids are going to be living in in ten or fifteen years, how [we are] going to respond to peak oil.” None of the candidates has yet responded to the invite, and chances are decent that they’ll all decline.
