In the wake of the largest oil spill in U.S. history, President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today took an important step toward preventing the next offshore oil disaster – one that could jeapordize the survival of America's already fragile polar bear population.

Around noon Eastern Time, the president announced a moratorium on deepwater offshore drilling in the Chukchi Sea – offering these majestic Arctic hunters a much-needed reprieve from Shell Oil’s dangerous drilling scheme in key polar bear habitat.

Over the last few weeks, caring Defenders supporters like you sent more than 118,000 messages to President Obama, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke (who oversees the National Marine Fisheries Service).

Today, your hard work paid off, as President Obama and Interior Secretary Salazar acknowledged the very serious threat that drilling activities pose to the sensitive ecosystems that sustain the Chukchi’s polar bears, bowhead whales and other wildlife.

Defenders’ senior marine policy advisor Richard Charter put it best in a statement to the press earlier today:

“President Obama and Interior Secretary Salazar should be commended for suspending Shell's plans to drill in the Arctic Ocean this summer. The Arctic environment absolutely could not stand an oil spill like the one we're now seeing in the Gulf of Mexico -- any spill, in fact, would have devastating effects on Arctic wildlife, and it’s clear that we couldn’t clean it up.

Please read our statement and learn more about this important victory for polar bears.

Today’s announcement by the Obama administration is a HUGE victory in our fight to prevent the next offshore oil disaster, but make no mistake: our fight is from over.

Defenders of Wildlife will continue to push for a broader, more permanent ban on dangerous offshore drilling activities that threaten our wildlife. We will continue our on-the-ground work to save the lives of sea turtles and other wildlife threatened by the Gulf offshore oil disaster.

And we will keep fighting to ensure accountability in government agencies charged with overseeing drilling permits and hold BP accountable for the catastrophic ecological damage that their negligence has caused in the Gulf of Mexico and beyond.

There will be plenty of work to do to protect and restore our natural treasures in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. But, for the moment, please accept my sincere thanks for taking the time to make a difference for our polar bears.

For the Wild Ones,
Jamie Rappaport Clark
Executive Vice President
Defenders of Wildlife