Youssef El Gharably is a graduate researcher at the University of Delaware and the Delaware lead for Stance on Science, a nonpartisan initiative of the Scientist Network for Advancing Policy.
Open an electric bill lately? Then you have already brushed up against science policy — it just might not be labeled as such. Across the regional power grid Delaware belongs to (PJM), independent analysts found that data centers drove 63% of the price increase in the most recent capacity auction, and a state of Delaware report warned that data center demand could push average wholesale electricity prices up by more than 80%. Down in Kent and Sussex, the poultry industry is keeping a wary eye on avian influenza after an outbreak last winter cost a single Kent County operation nearly 148,000 birds. Along the coast, towns are planning for tidal flooding that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts could rise from a handful of days a year to more than 100 per year by 2050.
We don’t usually think of these as “science issues.” We call them the “electric bill,” the “family farm,” the “shoreline.” However, each of them turns on the same underlying question: How should our elected officials use scientific evidence when they make decisions that shape the daily lives of Delawareans? This November, the people Delawareans choose will be answering that question on behalf of said Delawareans — whether or not anyone asks them.
I am a graduate researcher at the University of Delaware, where I study quantum science and engineering, and I’ll admit that scientists haven’t always made that connection easy to see. We can be better at listening to what our neighbors actually need, rather than lecturing about why our work matters. Science isn’t a separate world from the rest of Delaware life; it runs though the things Delawareans already care about: clean water, a strong economy, affordable energy and kids who are safe and healthy.
That’s the gap a group of us are trying to close. This year, early-career researchers and community members across the country are organizing a nonpartisan initiative called Stance on Science. We’re asking election candidates a short set of questions about science policy and how they’ll use scientific evidence to influence their decisions. These answers will be published for voters to read, so they don’t have to guess. I am helping lead that effort here in Delaware, alongside several colleagues.
Here’s how it works: Every candidate in a given race gets the exact same questions. We publish the answers we receive without endorsing anyone. We’re not here to tell you who to vote for or to push an agenda for any campaign. We’re here to get missing information in front of you.
These questions aren’t “gotchas,” nor are they abstract. They ask candidates how they’d approach what’s happening in Delaware right now. One question we’re asking, for example, is:
“Delaware funds school-based health centers and youth substance-use prevention and treatment programs through the Division of Public Health and the state budget, and teenagers (12-17) in Delaware are 26.4% more likely to have used drugs in the past month relative to an average American teen. What evidence-based policies, if any, would you support to address substance use among youth in Delaware’s K-12 schools?”
Others ask how they’d protect the waterways that define this state, support the workforce our economy depends on and keep our communities healthy. Different candidates will answer in different ways, and that’s the point. You deserve to hear these answers before filling out the ballot.
So, before the Sept. 15 primary and before the Nov. 3 general election, take a look at what the people asking for your votes actually have to say about the evidence driving their decisions. You can find our questions and candidates’ responses at snapcoalition.org/initiatives/stance-on-science, along with other nonpartisan science policy resources to inform your vote. An informed vote matters for you, for your neighbors, for your kids and for science.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
