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Editorial: 鈥�Stamp out anti-science in US politics鈥�
AS US Republicans jostle for the privilege of being their party鈥檚 presidential candidate, battle lines are being drawn over science.
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One front runner, Rick Perry, Texas governor, stood by his position on anthropogenic climate change at a debate on 7 September in Simi Valley, California. 鈥淭he science is not settled on this,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he idea that we would put the American economy at jeopardy based on scientific theory that鈥檚 not settled yet to me is just nonsense.鈥� He implied that Galileo, whose views went against scientific orthodoxy at the time, would agree.
Although former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, another front runner, wasn鈥檛 challenged on science issues at the California debate, others weighed in. Jon Huntsman, an ex-governor of Utah who is struggling to attract attention, warned that becoming the anti-science party could cost Republicans the White House. 鈥淚n order for the Republican party to win, we can鈥檛 run from science,鈥� he said.
Meanwhile, at a debate on 12 September in Tampa, Florida, another presidential hopeful, Michele Bachmann, criticised Perry鈥檚 decision to require that Texan girls receive a vaccine against the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus, which can cause cervical cancer.
Science may be grabbing airtime as hopefuls carve out positions that might earn them the nomination, but with the US economy lagging, it is unlikely to be a key issue for voters. A president who is not that bothered about science is a distinct possibility.