This is sickening. Fermilab, The United States’ main particle physics lab, is being hamstrung by congress’s latest omnibus bill. This is the same bill that approves billions for the war in Iraq but will result in hundreds at the lab being laid off permanently and countless others having to take extended time without work.
The bill reduces Fermilab’s budget by $62 million dollars in 2008, which is roughly 17% of the $372 million they expected. Oh, and that $372M, which is what their total yearly budget was *going* to be, is less than what it costs to stay in Iraq for a single day.
The cuts are going to halt research and development for the new International Linear Collider — a proposed multibillion-dollar facility that Fermilab hoped would secure the lab’s future and allow it, i.e. the United States, to compete with Europe’s CERN project.
But no. Instead we’re going to pull money from crucial scientific R&D programs, causing us to become an absolute non-force in the particle physics world. All for the war in Iraq. If this bothers you as much it does me, please make your voice heard by writing your congressional representative.
Here’s what I’m sending:
Dear$representative,
I am quite disappointed to hear that congress allowed the recent omnibus bill to pass with huge cuts to Fermilabs’ particle physics programs. The bill cuts their budget by nearly 17% and will result in the halting of our country’s premier effort to stay competitive with other countries in this important field.
What disturbs me most is the fact that the same bill authorizes billions of dollars for the war in Iraq, which in a single day pulls more money from the United States than an entire year of scientific research at Fermilab.
Please re-prioritize. I am tired of seeing the United States fall further and further behind in science — especially at the expense of a war that never should have happened.
Kind regards,
–Daniel Miessler