Today, I went to the White House to deliver polling results to President Obama. The new polling results show that 83% of Americans want President Obama to use his power to help strengthen the international ban on commercial whaling.
At the same time that I stood in front of the White House delivering our polling results, Japanese whalers were loading up their harpoons in the Southern Ocean in the middle of their annual whaling season.
Getting our message through to the President couldn’t be more urgent.
As a Presidential candidate, Obama said, “As president, I will ensure that the U.S. provides leadership in enforcing international wildlife protection agreements, including strengthening the international moratorium on commercial whaling. Allowing Japan to continue commercial whaling is unacceptable.”
But, this season marks the fourth year that Japanese whalers have took to the Southern Ocean to hunt whales since President Obama made that statement. We wanted to find out where Americans stood on the issue of whaling.
Do Americans want President Obama to uphold his promise to strengthen the international ban on commercial whaling or do they believe he should support lifting the ban on whaling for Japan?
Out of 1,000 people surveyed from all over the country:
— 83% said they’d like President Obama to stand by pledge, strengthen the ban;
— 7% said they’d support lifting ban for Japan;
— And, 10% said they didn’t know or weren’t sure.
You can view the complete poll results by clicking here.
President Obama, please listen to 83% of America by keeping your pledge to save the whales. The whales need your help now, more than ever.
