Kinship Circle | Letter Campaigns

6/23/10: WIN! Demand Whale Conservation Over Killing

SOURCE OF INFORMATION / BACKGROUND

WIN! Commercial Whaling Is A No-Go For Now

6/23/10, SUMMARY: This year's bid to legalize commercial whaling is a no-go. Thanks to Kinship Circle supporters who spoke out against whaling now...and many times over the years. Your comments to the International Whaling Commission help solidify wins like this one. Japan, Norway and Iceland are still hunting whales under the guise of "research." However, if commercialized whaling (what whalers do now, illegally) had been legalized — they could have won rights to openly slaughter whales. Even so, the greedy still prey upon the vulnerable. Butchering whales for profit is far from over.

THE LETTER CAMPAIGN BELOW IS NOW CLOSED.

• Urge Obama to Stop Plan to Slaughter Whales
• Whaling Commission Political Deal Could Overturn Moratorium
• U.S. Plan to Expand Whaling Released
• Legislator wants USF dean off whaling commission
• Letter To President Obama For Coalition Of Animal Organizations

• ABOVE LT: Minke whale. Juergen Freund. OCEANS. Ribbon Reefs,
Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

• ABOVE RT: Japanese Yushin Maru No 2. harpoons minke whale.

• RT COLUMN, TOP: A Bryde's whale lies on a Japanese whaling deck.
The species is listed as "Data Deficient" on the IUCN Red List. Population numbers are not known. (Institute for Cetacean Research)

• RT COLUMN, BOTTOM: Crew members butcher a Minke Whale on
board a whaling ship. BELOW: This is a minke whale, alive and free.

CONTACT INFORMATION + SAMPLE LETTER

CONTACT INFORMATION • Print/Send This Letter

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
comments: 202-456-1111; switchboard: 202-456-1414
fax: 202-456-2461
web mail: www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
THERE IS NO PUBLIC EMAIL ADDRESS FOR PRESIDENT
OBAMA. Please fax or snail-mail comments to him.

The International Whaling Commission
The Red House, 135 Station Road
Impington, Cambridge
Cambridgeshire CB24 9NP, UK
ph: +44 (0) 1223 233 971; fax: +44 (0) 1223 232 876
email: secretariat@iwcoffice.org, iwcjournal@iwcoffice.org,
webmaster@iwcoffice.org
SOURCE: www.iwcoffice.org/other/contacts.htm

Nick J. Rahall II, House Natural Resources
Committee Chairman
Committee on Natural Resources
1324 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
ph: 202-225-6065; fax: 202-225-1931
Communications Office: 202-226-9019
web mail: www.rahall.house.gov/?sectionid=9§iontree=9
SOURCE: resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php

Otto J. Wolff, Acting Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Commerce
U.S. Department of Commerce
1401 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20230
ph: 202-482-2000
email: owolff@doc.gov, webmaster@doc.gov
SOURCE: www.commerce.gov/Contact_Us/index.htm

Nancy Sutley, Chair, White House Council on
Environmental Quality
722 Jackson Place, NW
Washington, DC 20503
ph: 202-395-5750; fax: 202-456-6546
Jon Carson, Chief Of Staff for Nancy Sutley: jcarson@ceq.eop.gov
Horst Greczmiel, CEQ Associate Director for (NEPA) Oversight:
horst_greczmiel@ceq.eop.gov
Edward Boling, General Counsel: eboling@ceq.eop.gov
SOURCE: ceq.hss.doe.gov/ntf/contactus.html
ceq.hss.doe.gov/NEPA/contacts.cfm

Ms. Hilary Clinton, Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State, 2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
ph: 202-647-4000; fax: 202-647-2283
web mail: contact-us.state.gov/cgibin/
state.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php
presidential campaign email (no guarantee):
questions@friendsofhillary.com

Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Under Secretary of Commerce for
Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
1401 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room 5128
Washington, DC 20230
ph: 202-482-3436
email: jane.lubchenco@noaa.gov
SOURCE: nsd.rdc.noaa.gov/nsd/pubsearch

Marine Mammal Commission
4340 East-West Highway, Suite 700
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
ph: 301-504-0087; fax: 301-504-0099
email: mmc@mmc.gov, tragen@mmc.gov, bgisiner@mmc.gov,
pthomas@mmc.gov
SOURCE: www.mmc.gov/backmatter/contactus.html

ALL EMAILS IN THIS ALERT:

OFFICIALS WITH EMAIL ADDRESSES:
secretariat@iwcoffice.org, iwcjournal@iwcoffice.org, webmaster@iwcoffice.org, owolff@doc.gov, webmaster@doc.gov, jcarson@ceq.eop.gov, horst_greczmiel@ceq.eop.gov, eboling@ceq.eop.gov, questions@friendsofhillary.com, jane.lubchenco@noaa.gov, mmc@mmc.gov, tragen@mmc.gov, bgisiner@mmc.gov, pthomas@mmc.gov

OFFICIALS WITH WEB MAIL ONLY:
• President Barack Obama: www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
• Nick J. Rahall II, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman:
www.rahall.house.gov/?sectionid=9§iontree=9
• Ms. Hilary Clinton, Secretary of State:
contact-us.state.gov/cgi- bin/state.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php

*Kinship Circle cannot guarantee validity of email addresses. During campaigns, recipients may change or disable their email addresses. Emails from government, corporate, or institute websites may be incorrect.

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SAMPLE LETTER • Print/Send This Letter

Dear Mr. President and Honorable Government Officials:

The United States once played a vital part in protecting whales and their oceanic habitat. As a nonpartisan voice for the International Whaling Commission (IWC), it helped shape decades of sound conservation.

That's about to change if U.S. IWC Commissioner Dr. William Hogarth successfully removes a key safeguard for these giant marine mammals.

Whales are already vulnerable to pollution, global warming, seismic and naval sonar, drilling, fishnet entrapment, ship strikes, habitat loss and more human hazards. Yet Dr. Hogarth wants to dilute the IWC's moratorium on commercial whaling.

Granted, the commercial ban has been difficult to enforce. Japan, Iceland and Norway have long exploited an IWC exemption for "scientific whaling." There is no rationale for butchering whales to analyze migration, age, ecology or behavior. Eminent scientists and legal authorities rebuke "scientific whaling" as pointless. In fact, science-based slaughter is a veil for commerce in whale meat.

Dr. Hogarth further undercuts whale preservation with his proposal to accept some commercial whaling and allow it in coastal waters. I encourage you to appoint the Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as the U.S. IWC Commissioner and oppose strategies that endorse Special Permit catches or "Coastal Whaling." I hope you will uphold IWC regulations and discount any type whaling presently forbidden under them.

The U.S. ought to use its clout to halt increased whaling from Japan, Iceland and Norway — not appease them with watered down rules. Japan, in particular, has continually defied international treaty obligations and hunted endangered whales. Moreover, whale hunts are profoundly inhumane. Harpoons literally explode inside their bodies. It can take a half to full hour for a whale to die. Some, tied to the side of ships, suffocate as they thrash in vain.

Please revitalize America's leadership in the IWC with a U.S. Commissioner who facilitates conservation instead of killing.

Thank you,

EASILY PERSONALIZE AND SEND COMMENTS NOW

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DISCLAIMER: The information in these materials is verified with the original source. Kinship Circle does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information or for the consequences of its use. Nothing on this website is intended to encourage illegal action in whatever country you are reading it in. Kinship Circle does not engage in, nor support, any form of harassment or unlawful activity. Nothing in this action alert serves to promote such conduct.

Kinship Circle cannot guarantee the validity of email addresses. During a campaign, recipients may change or disable their email addresses. Email addresses obtained from government or other official websites may be outdated or incorrect.