This week, our World Lines columnist Lawrence Krauss - a member of the steering committee of Science Debate 2008 - announced that his group has officially invited Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee to a debate focused on science and technology policy issues on 18 April at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

The debate is the brainchild of screenwriter (and great-great grandson of Charles Darwin) Matthew Chapman. Chapman teamed up with screenwriter Shawn Lawrence Otto, bloggers Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum, Krauss and several others to try to make it happen.

"When you have an idea and twelve weeks later, 15,000 people have signed up in support, you know you're onto something," Chapman wrote in an email. Twenty-three Nobel laureates, 32 government leaders (both red and blue), 31 major business leaders, 89 organisations, 44 college and university presidents, and a whole slew of editors and journalists have joined the cause - and you can, too.

Of course, none of this matters unless the candidates accept the offer, and that's going to be tricky. The science and technology community represent a huge number of voters, but I think the key is to make the candidates feel that if they don't participate, they'll look bad. That means they only need one candidate to accept the invitation - once that happens, the others will have to follow suit or risk appearing intimidated. Cleverly, the invitation points out that the debate will take place even if only one candidate shows up. How can they snag that one crucial candidate? Any ideas?

I think they should target the campaign advisers of the candidates who are most likely to benefit from participating in such a debate. And they should probably link up with a major news network, like CNN, or even a more cutting-edge channel like Current TV.

It's also crucial for the candidates to realise, as the invitation makes clear, that this is not intended to be a science quiz. It's about policy. Clinton, for instance, plans to produce 60 billion gallons of biofuel by 2030, but will she rethink her plans in light of recent scientific studies that suggest that biofuel production could significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions?

How does McCain defend his advocacy of nuclear energy, and what exactly is his position on teaching intelligent design in public schools? Obama supports internet neutrality and wants to invest in a digital smart energy grid, but how exactly does he intend to do it? Huckabee wants to "pursue all avenues of alternative energy" in conjunction with the private sector, but exactly what does he have in mind?

Those are some of the questions on my mind. If you could ask any of the candidates a science policy-related question, what would it be?

Amanda Gefter, Opinion editor (Image: Bobak Ha'Eri)

Labels: science debate, USelection08