Zack Kopplin: President Obama, Please Call for a Second Giant Leap for Mankind

[LongTomH]

Zack Kopplin is the brilliant young man who has been challenging Louisiana's ridiculous laws allowing creationism to be taught in public schools. Here he's calling for a restoration of science funding and a commitment to fighting global warming:

Dear President Obama,

Fifty years ago, President John F. Kennedy stood at Rice, my university, and declared that we would put a man on the moon, in that decade. He called for a scientific revolution.

Mr. President, we need another scientific revolution; we must have a second giant leap for Mankind.

My generation will face unprecedented challenges to our way of living and to our survival as a species. Our population continues to climb, but the amount of clean water and living space we have on Earth has been stretched thin. Our climate is growing increasingly extreme. A disease like the Avian Flu, which (currently) has a 60 percent mortality rate, could become transmitted by humans and turn into a worldwide pandemic in our age of rapid travel. The Earth is experiencing a rapid decline of biodiversity, especially in our oceans. We could be faced with a killer asteroid in the near future.

I know these threats sound like science fiction, but they are real and my generation will have to address them. The way to overcome these challenges and ensure the continued long-term existence of our species is through investment in rapid scientific innovation.

Read the rest here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zack-kopplin/science-funding-obama_b_2545952.html

Conservatives have made opposition to science and science funding, as Zack explains. Why shouldn't Liberals make restoration of science funding and science education part of their agenda? I know Republicans will fight this all the way; but, we need to fight harder!

[LongTomH]

1. Options to ask for action on the Call for a Second giant Scientific Leap for Mankind

Someone has created a White House Petition page:

This petition was inspired by Zack Kopplin's recent open letter: "President Obama, Please Call for a Second Giant Leap for Mankind." The full letter can be found here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zack-kopplin/science-funding-obama_b_2545952.html

Half a century ago, President John F. Kennedy set the goal for the United States to achieve the goal of putting a man on the moon within the decade. This goal and the push towards it created many new technologies, industries, and jobs.

We have many challenges to face in our generation, such as increasingly scarce resources, climate change, new strains of diseases, and even asteroids that may collide with Earth. President Obama, please call for a second giant leap and make scientific education, research, and funding a priority once again.

You can also call your congressperson through Phonebank.org.

[logosoco]

2. I follow Zack on Facebook.

It is great to see young people stepping up for this.

I was very proud of my son who is a biology major and he and his friends started a secular student society. All the while he is living with my mother who is a devout Catholic.
I raised my kids to keep an open mind and to think for themselves. You don't have to go to church to be a good person. Understanding science is better for the future.

[LongTomH]

3. Here's Zack's Facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/RepealCreationism?ref=ts&fref=ts

Thanks for reminding me, logosoco!