IOWA FALLS, IOWA (September 28, 2020) — Iowa voters have a one-stop shop to compare their views on science, the environment, climate change, energy, and mental health with those of candidates in the November 3 election.
Information on these vital issues from contenders for the US House and Senate from Iowa and for the Iowa General Assembly are available at scienceiowa.org. Hover over the Candidate Questionnaires menu item for background on the project and the full list of offices. Organizers will update the answers as additional candidates respond.
The coalition of Iowa advocacy groups that developed the questionnaire is at the lead of a national drive to get federal and state-level candidates on the record with their positions on science and environmental issues. Iowa activists were the first to develop and disseminate its survey and groups in Illinois, Colorado, North Carolina and other states are following their example.
Members of ASPIRE (the Iowa State University affiliate of the National Science Policy Network), the University of Iowa's Connecting Science to Society student group, and Science Iowa (formerly March for Science Iowa) sent the questionnaires to more than 200 candidates. Eleven other Iowa-based agriculture, environmental, and science-advocacy groups provided input to the questions sent to federal-office contenders. Some 13 organizations participated in devising questions for Iowa legislative candidates.
The surveys were developed in cooperation with Science Debate, a national non-profit dedicated to ensuring candidates for president and Congress address issues of science and the environment.
"As Iowans endure the worst pandemic in a century, face a persistent drought and environmental degradation, and struggle to overcome the devastation of the August windstorm, they must know how candidates would use science-based information to formulate and decide on policies to address climate change, health, the environment, agriculture, and other vital issues rooted in research and evidence," said Annabelle Lolinco, ASPIRE president and an ISU doctoral chemical education.
Answers are published in their entirety, without editing, comment, or endorsement. "We hope they help voters choose candidates that best reflects their views," said Riley Troyer, a Connecting Science to Society leader and UI doctoral student in experimental space physics.
Organizations that provided input to the federal questionnaire are:
- Iowa State University Environmental Club
- Iowa State University Graduate Students in Counseling Psychology
- Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science — Iowa State University chapter
- Citizens' Climate Lobby — Des Moines chapter
- Citizens' Climate Lobby — Iowa Great Lakes chapter
- University of Iowa Society of Physics Students
- Iowa State University Sustainable Agriculture Student Association
- Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers — Iowa State University chapter
- Center for Energy and Environmental Education based at the University of Northern Iowa
- Conservation Districts of Iowa
- Iowa Environmental Council
In addition to these groups, the Cedar Rapids and Mitchell County Citizens' Climate Lobby chapters contributed to the state candidate questionnaire.
"Issue-advocacy groups are deeply interested in getting contenders for state and federal office on the record, demonstrating the huge impact these issues have Iowans' lives," said Kaitlin Higgins, a Science Iowa leader and ISU doctoral student in genetics and genomics.
Voters should contact local candidates and urge them to respond to the questionnaire, the organizations' leaders said, and return to scienceiowa.org periodically for updates.
