Ask Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu to Stop the Use of Monkeys in Space Radiation Experiments

FROM  Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)

ACTION

Please take a minute to call Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Ph.D., and ask him to halt DOE’s involvement in NASA’s planned monkey radiation experiments.

Steven Chu, Ph.D.
phone (202) 586-5000
fax (202) 586-4403
email

INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS

I have an important update and call to action regarding our year-long efforts to cancel NASA’s proposed radiation experiments involving live monkeys.

Just yesterday (10/14/10), the website NASAWatch released documents (PDF) indicating that Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) director Samuel Aronson, Ph.D., informed the Department of Energy (DOE) of his decision regarding the use of monkeys in space radiation research. While much of the document is blacked out, the information that remains gives us hope that Dr. Aronson and DOE have made the right decision.

Now more than ever, we need to make sure that BNL and DOE know that the public opposes this research.

SAMPLE LETTER:

The experiments are supposed to take place at a DOE facility. We have provided text for you, but if you decide to write your own message, please be polite and encouraging. Here are some talking points:

• I am writing to ask that you halt the Department of Energy’s involvement in NASA’s planned monkey radiation experiments.
• I understand that recently a decision has been made by Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Department of Energy, but that you have yet to make your decision known to the public.
• Genetic, anatomical, and physiological differences between humans and monkeys make this type of research unproductive.
• Monkeys are sentient and social beings who experience pain and suffering.
• Decades of radiation research involving nonhuman primates have not advanced human space travel.
• There are many validated nonanimal research methods that can and should be used.

Thank you for everything you do for animals!