Obama was responding to questions posed to him and Republican presidential candidate John McCain by the grassroots group Science Debate 2008, which said it hoped to make key science issues a larger part of the election.

The questions — on energy policy, national security, economics in a science-driven global economy, climate change, education, health care, ocean health, biosecurity, clean water, space, stem cell research, scientific integrity, genetics and research — were developed from 3,400 questions submitted by more than 38,000 signers of the Science Debate 2008 initiative. Its supporters were calling for a televised debate by the presidential candidates on science issues.

The questionnaire was a joint effort of Science Debate 2008, Scientists and Engineers for America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academies (the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine and National Research Council), the Council on Competitiveness and others, together representing more than 125 million voters.

“Most of America’s major unsolved challenges revolve around these questions,” Shawn Otto, chief executive officer of Science Debate 2008, said in a statement. “To move America forward, the next president needs a substantive plan for tackling [the issues] going in, and voters deserve to know what that plan is.”

INNOVATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Obama said his administration would increase funding for basic research in physical and life sciences, mathematics and engineering at a rate that would double basic research budgets over the next decade.

To spur innovation, he would increase research grants for early-career researchers and increase support for high-risk, high-payoff research at U.S. science agencies. He also would work to guarantee student access to strong science curriculums at all grade levels and provide broadband Internet connections for all citizens to help students bolster their achievement in science, technology, mathematics and engineering.

“There can no longer be any doubt that human activities are influencing the global climate,” Obama wrote, “and we must react quickly and effectively.”

To address climate change, Obama would implement a market-based cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by the amount scientists say is necessary — 80 percent below 1990 level by 2050.

Solutions to climate change, he added, will require contributions from all parts of the world, particularly the world’s other major emitters — China, Europe and India.

Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope announces the environmental group’s endorsement of Barack Obama for president June 20.
Obama pledged to work closely with the international community on the issue and re-engage with the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the main international forum dedicated to addressing the climate change problem.

This includes creating a Global Energy Forum based on the G8+5, which includes all G8 members plus Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa, to focus exclusively on global energy and environmental issue