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Innovation

Science and technology have been responsible for half of the growth of the American economy since World War II. But several recent reports question America’s continued leadership in these vital areas. What policies would you support to ensure that America remains the world leader in innovation?

Frank Pallone

All candidates have been invited to respond to the Innovation & the Elections 2008 questionnaire on science and technology policy. Urge Frank Pallone to participate by contacting him through his webform today.

Robert McLeod

The emphasis of American education should be redirected. Too much American education is directed to the “soft” studies of human interaction and too little is devoted to the “hard” studies of science, engineering and technology. Two-thirds of the doctoral candidates in science and engineering in American universities are foreign born. After they complete their educations some stay, but many return to their home countries to fuel the growth of our economic competitors. Meanwhile the United States produces the world’s largest crop of lawyers, chaff that can clog any economic pipeline.

Policies must be adopted to protect America’s eroding manufacturing base to ensure employment for domestically educated engineers, scientists and technicians. Industries should be encouraged through tax credits and other subsidies to establish scholarships for education in science, engineering and technology. Visas for foreign technology workers should be coupled with contributions to these funds in order to provide American workers to fill their jobs.

American corporations are handicapped by legacy costs for health care, pensions and other benefits which are fully or partially provided by the governments in the home nations of competitors. These costs, where necessary to “level the field,” can either be assumed by the government or assigned to an industry supported benefits agency. That agency would be supported by tariffs and other fees imposed on importers. Goods and services imported from countries having considerably lower occupational health and safety regulations or lower wages would also be subject to tariffs and fees to offset the advantages from practices contrary to American policy.

Climate Change

The Earth’s climate is changing and there is concern about the potentially adverse effects of these changes on life on the planet. What is your position on the following measures that have been proposed to address global climate change—a cap-and-trade system, a carbon tax, increased fuel-economy standards, and research? Are there other policies you would support?

Frank Pallone

All candidates have been invited to respond to the Innovation & the Elections 2008 questionnaire on science and technology policy. Urge Frank Pallone to participate by contacting him through his webform today.

Robert McLeod

The Earth’s climate is always changing. Biological influences have always been a part of this change along with inanimate fluctuations. Plant and animal respiration has changed the composition of the atmosphere many times.

The current geologic epoch has been named the Holocene Epoch of the Quaternary Period, but it may simply be the most recent interglacial of the Pleistocene Epoch. Some studies indicate that at the height of the last interglacial temperatures ran 3°-5°C warmer than they are now. In the past two thousand years we have witnessed vineyards in Britain and northern Europe, agriculture in Greenland, the cold spell of the late first millennium, C.E., i.e., the “Dark Ages,” the “mini-ice age” of the mid-second millennium, C.E., and the extremely cold decades of the mid-twentieth century.

Our genus, Homo, originated in the early Pleistocene and has existed for over two million years. Our species has been around somewhat over 100,000 years. There have been many changes in the climate during that span. Glaciers advanced and retreated, savanna replaced forest and desert replaced savanna. Sunspots flared and ebbed, the planetary axis shifted, and the planet’s orbit varied minimally. Human activity was an insignificant synchronism.

There is no question that we must contain and reduce man-made pollution. See discussion of energy below. The long climactic history of the planet indicates that the fervent activity of its dominant and most numerous primates may be a minor factor in climate change, which could be accelerating a warming phase in conjunction with other primary causes.

Energy

Many scientists and policymakers say energy security and sustainability are major problems facing the United States this century. What policies would you support to meet the demand for energy while ensuring an economically and environmentally sustainable future?

Frank Pallone

All candidates have been invited to respond to the Innovation & the Elections 2008 questionnaire on science and technology policy. Urge Frank Pallone to participate by contacting him through his webform today.

Robert McLeod

We must increase the emission and mileage standards on our automobiles and trucks. These machines consume 70±% of our petroleum. We must make “clean coal” scrubbing and gasification technology the norm for our most common fossil fuel. Domestic natural gas reserves must be exploited both for the direct production of heat and the generation of electricity. We must drill where we have oil, including ANWR and offshore, regardless of the objections of environmental and NIMBY activists. We must simplify the permitting process for nuclear power plants and restrict the opportunities for obstruction by environmental and NIMBY activists, whether in the courts, the administrative process, or otherwise. Solar and wind technology should be encouraged by tax credits and direct subsidies where appropriate.

Education

A comparison of 15-year-olds in 30 wealthy nations found that average science scores among U.S. students ranked 17th, while average U.S. math scores ranked 24th. What role do you think the federal government should play in preparing K-12 students for the science and technology driven 21st Century?

Frank Pallone

All candidates have been invited to respond to the Innovation & the Elections 2008 questionnaire on science and technology policy. Urge Frank Pallone to participate by contacting him through his webform today.

Robert McLeod

The emphasis of American education should be redirected as discussed under Innovation above. A central question of educational policy must be how much money taxpayers are willing to spend to attempt to cure the social disabilities which afflict many children before they ever reach the schoolhouse door.

Any decision to remediate a child’s problems must consider the limited reach of the educational system. The schools have custody of the children for less than 10% of the time between birth and age 18. [6 hr. school day X 180 school days X 14 years in school (including pre-school) = 15,120 hours; 24 hr. day X 365 days X 18 years = 157,680 hrs.; 15,120 ÷ 157,680 = 9.6%.] The family and the children’s peers are the major influences during the other 90% of their lives. The society in which many children are born and live is frequently not only indifferent to education, it is hostile to education. Goals must be reasonable. The schools cannot cure all of the personal and social ills which a child brings to the classroom.

Education is one of the few service professions in which the person receiving the service must do most of the work. Another would be physical therapy. Education requires discipline. It requires self-discipline to study and it requires discipline to ensure the tranquility which study requires. A school is no place for the rambunctious freedom of the streets, either in dress, language or attitude. To the extent that students do not come to school adequately disciplined and well-behaved that conformity must be enforced by example, rule and consequences.

Disruption in the class detracts from the opportunity to learn. It deprives the student who wants to learn as well as the delinquent. When a student has given notice that he or she has no intention to conform to the rules, that student should be separated from those who wish to learn. This requires fair and appropriate disciplinary action, but there is no place in school for the excessive

Water

Thirty-nine states expect some level of water shortage over the next decade, and scientific studies suggest that a majority of our water resources are at risk. What policies would you support to meet demand for water resources?

Frank Pallone

All candidates have been invited to respond to the Innovation & the Elections 2008 questionnaire on science and technology policy. Urge Frank Pallone to participate by contacting him through his webform today.

Robert McLeod

The primary reason for the strain on our water resources is population growth and migration to states west of the Mississippi which have limited water resources. The American birth rate among almost all groups is stable at about replacement level. The growth in the population is almost entirely fueled by immigration, both legal and illegal. Legal immigration should be substantially reduced and enforcement, apprehension and deportation of illegal immigrants should be substantially increased.

Concurrently with curtailing immigration additional development in dry areas should be restricted. No more lawns in Arizona or Nevada.

Runoff should be recovered where practical. Water conservation measures should be instituted to ensure multiple uses of nonpotable water within closed systems and the limitation of potable water to human consumption and related uses such as agriculture and animal husbandry.

Research

For many years, Congress has recognized the importance of science and engineering research to realizing our national goals. Given that the next Congress will likely face spending constraints, what priority would you give to investment in basic research in upcoming budgets?

Frank Pallone

All candidates have been invited to respond to the Innovation & the Elections 2008 questionnaire on science and technology policy. Urge Frank Pallone to participate by contacting him through his webform today.

Robert McLeod

Scientific and technological research should always have the highest priority in federal budgets. Science got us to the moon and has cured or mitigated disease. It is the advance guard, the “recon” unit, of civilization.

Health

Americans are increasingly concerned with the cost, quality, and availability of health care. How do you see science, research, and technology contributing to improved health and quality of life?

Frank Pallone

All candidates have been invited to respond to the Innovation & the Elections 2008 questionnaire on science and technology policy. Urge Frank Pallone to participate by contacting him through his webform today.

Robert McLeod

Science, research and technology have increased our average life span by thirty years since my grandparents were born in the late 1800’s. Health care which was available fifty years ago only to the lucky few, or not even yet developed, is now routinely available to citizens of developed countries. Increased availability and quality of care is a factor in the increase in cost. The federal government must encourage this continued progress in partnership with industry and academia.

The other factors driving the cost of health care are administrative and legal. Our overlapping and gapping administrative system must be regularized by the adoption of uniform claim forms and codes. There must be broad use of electronic medical data and records. The number of policy options should be reduced to reflect consumers’ actual ability to make choices. Preexisting and chronic conditions may require direct government subsidies. Pain and suffering awards against physicians, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, and other health care providers should be capped. Class actions should be restricted and attorneys fees should be assessed against the loser in all State and Federal litigation.

Scientists & Engineers for America

Candidate Responses for NJ-6

Innovation

Frank Pallone

Robert McLeod

Climate Change

Frank Pallone

Robert McLeod

Energy

Frank Pallone

Robert McLeod

Education

Frank Pallone

Robert McLeod

Water

Frank Pallone

Robert McLeod

Research

Frank Pallone

Robert McLeod

Health

Frank Pallone

Robert McLeod

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