A small working group of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has a baffling proposal for saving whales: reinstate commercial whaling.

But this wouldn't save the whales so much as it would save the whaling industry. In fact, bringing back commercial whaling would:

* Undo almost 30 years of progress in protecting endangered whale species.

* Allow whaling to take place in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary, not only letting the slaughter of whales there to continue but legitimizing it as well.

* Set quotas of how many whales each country is allowed to catch based on political need, NOT scientific evidence.

We made huge progress in saving the whales once and for all back in the 80s when we stopped commercial whaling. We can save them from this threat too, but we need your help. Please take action now to tell President Obama that he should help save whales and say "no" to commercial whaling.

Dear President Obama,

Through years of hard work, Greenpeace and the United States government both played instrumental roles in securing a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986. Despite refusal to honor the moratorium by Japan, Iceland, and Norway, the moratorium has proven to be the most important whale conservation agreement in history. Several whale populations have slowly begun to recover, and some are no longer in the imminent danger of extinction they were just a few decades ago.

Mr. President, we are deeply concerned about reports that some in your administration are championing a deal that would undermine the moratorium and secure the future of commercial whaling. From the campaign platform you shared with Greenpeace, I know you share my view that commercial whaling has no place in the 21st century. I was grateful for your pledge to help bring this outrageous and unnecessary practice to an end.

I urgently call on you to ensure that the US opposes any deal that would legitimize commercial whaling by granting quotas to Japan and its whaling allies. Instead, I urge you to support Australia's proposal, which would end whaling in the Southern Ocean once and for all. There is very widespread and bi-partisan US support for whale conservation, and millions of Americans are counting on you.

Sincerely,
[Your name here]