Fred Thompson (Former Presidential Candidate)
Fred Thompson
R-TN
Biography
THOMPSON, Fred Dalton, a Senator from Tennessee; born in Sheffield, Ala., on August 19, 1942; attended the public schools in Lawrenceburg, Tenn.; graduated from Memphis State University 1964; received J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University 1967; admitted to the Tennessee bar in 1967 and commenced the practice of law; assistant U.S. attorney 1969-1972; minority counsel, Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities (“Watergate Committee”) 1973-1974; special counsel to Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander 1980; special counsel, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1980-1981; special counsel, Senate Intelligence Committee 1982; member, Tennessee Appellate Court Nominating Commission 1985-1987; actor; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in the November 8, 1994, special election to fill the unexpired portion of the term ending January 3, 1997, left vacant by the resignation of Albert Gore, Jr.; took the oath of office on December 2, 1994; reelected in 1996 for the term ending January 3, 2003; not a candidate for reelection in 2002; chair, Committee on Governmental Affairs (One Hundred Fifth and One Hundred Sixth Congresses; One Hundred Seventh Congress [January 20, 2001-June 6, 2001]); resumed acting career.
FRED THOMPSON'S RECORD ON SCIENCE
Senator Thompson dropped out of the 2008 Republican Presidential Primary on January 22.
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[edit] Energy
Former Senator Thompson supports an energy agenda that reduces America’s demand for oil and gas and invests in research for the development of renewable fuels, energy efficient technologies, and conservation techniques. He also calls for a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.
While campaigning for President, Thompson stated that he now supports ethanol subsidies on national security grounds even though he voted against them while in the Senate. In 1998, he voted on an amendment proposed by Senator McCain (R-AZ) to consider ending ethanol subsidies in 2000.
[edit] Evolution/Intelligent Design
[edit] Global Warming
Thompson said on the Paul Harvey Radio Show in March 2007: “NASA says the Martian South Pole’s 'ice cap' has been shrinking for three summers in a row. Maybe Mars got its fever from earth. If so, I guess Jupiter’s caught the same cold, because it’s warming up too, like Pluto. This has led some people, not necessarily scientists, to wonder if Mars and Jupiter, non signatories to the Kyoto Treaty, are actually inhabited by alien SUV-driving industrialists who run their air-conditioning at 60 degrees and refuse to recycle.”
His energy agenda, states that "while we don’t know for certain how or why climate change is occurring," he is committed to "conducting research and development into technologies that improve the environment, especially the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions."
[edit] Healthcare
The Thompson campaign has issued a healthcare agenda to make healthcare affordable and portable by streamlining government programs and using free-market solutions to increase competitiveness and foster innovation.
Thompson said in an interview with The Washington Post that he would not have supported the prescription drug benefit added to Medicare by Congress in 2003.
[edit] Stem Cell Research
Thompson is in favor of adult stem cell research, but does not support “stem cell research where embryos of unborn children are destroyed.”
[edit] Speeches on Science and Health Issues
[edit] SCIENCE IN THE DEBATES:
Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential Forum, October 16, 2007
Question: Senator, what would you do to solve the energy dependence on the Middle East?
Thompson: …I think, secondly, we've got to look at our own resources. We've got to do more here with what we have here. There's coal technology now -- I'm talking in terms of oil and natural gas. There's coal technology now that's going to allow us, I think, to do things we've never done before: gasification and sequestration technology and sort of thing -- one thing that we've got plenty of. We've also got plenty of nuclear energy, if we utilize it. We're getting about 20 percent now from -- of our electricity from that source. A lot of nations, so-called green nations, are getting a lot more than that than we are. We took that off the table back in the '70s, and we've got to put it back on the table again. I think that there's certainly a place for alternatives and renewables. Without question we've got to explore that. Research and development. That's an easy throwaway line, but I often wondered, you know, how long has it been since we didn't have a computer in every room of our house, and our little, you know, children were operating them, presenting new challenges, you know, for all of us. We're a nation of innovation and technology and creativity. We have got to consider things, we've got to pursue things and allow people to pursue things and encourage the pursuit of things that aren't on the table yet in terms of developing technology.
MSNBC/CNBC Republican Debate, October 9, 2007
Question: Should the government determine whether ethanol makes economic sense, or should the free market make that determination?
Thompson: Ultimately it will be the free market. But I think, like the governor says, I think that we're in a situation now where we've got to use everything that's available to us. I think renewables and alternatives are a part of that picture. I don't look for it to last forever. When the industry gets up and running and on its feet again, I don't see the need for what we're doing now. …
