The U.S. representative on the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has proposed a five-year plan to lift the international moratorium on whale hunting. William Hogarth, a Bush-era appointee and current IWC chair, brokered a proposed deal that would allow Japan to do new "coastal whaling" in exchange for ramping down so-called "scientific" whaling over the next five years.

But a slow decline in one type of whales being killed in exchange for opening a new group for slaughter is not a compromise that's acceptable! Hogarth's proposal puts the threatened coastal Japanese whales at even greater risk. The IWC needs to instead focus its attention on stopping whaling altogether.

Urge President Obama to instruct Hogarth that the U.S. does not condone whaling. We cannot give Hogarth free reign to destroy years of conservation work and potentially wipe out whale species.

Dear President Obama,

I am horrified to learn of the International Whaling Commission U.S. Commissioner's plan to end the international moratorium on whaling. I implore you to speak with William Hogarth immediately and urge him to withdraw U.S. support for such a plan.

Hogarth's Feb. 2 proposal to allow Japan to open up "coastal whaling" in exchange for a limited reduction of their "scientific" whaling. But I believe a a slow decline in one type of whales being killed in exchange for opening a new group for slaughter is not a compromise that's acceptable.

Conservationists have worked so hard to ensure that whale populations do not decline from human hunting, since they face so many threats from ship strikes and global warming. It would be a shame to destroy years of conservation work to broker a compromise when what is truly needed is an international enforcement on the ban on whaling.

[Your comment here]

Thank you for instructing Hogarth that the U.S. does not condone whaling.

Sincerely,
[Your name here]