More than 450 million acres. An area three times the size of California.

That’s how much of America’s coastal waters are now protected against BP-sized oil spills.

Yesterday, the Obama administration announced that it would protect the entire Atlantic Coast, Pacific Coast, and eastern Gulf of Mexico from new oil and gas drilling until at least 2017.  This is a huge step, and Big Oil is already on the attack -- so it’s important that the president know that he has our support. Will you e-mail the White House today and thank President Obama for protecting our coasts?

We’ve been working hard to ensure permanent protection for our beautiful coasts and productive oceans for years, and this is a major step in that direction. Your support helped make this victory possible, and I want to thank you -- our members and e-mail activists -- for the things you did to make it happen.

In the past year alone, we and our allies sent more than 400,000 postcards, e-mails and comments from concerned citizens like you to President Obama and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, asking them to put our coasts off limits to drilling.

When BP’s Deepwater Horizon well spewed oil into the Gulf, you helped us organize Gumbo for the Gulf parties to raise money for relief efforts and to bring those affected by the tragedy up to Washington, D.C., to lobby for stronger laws.  Thanks to that generosity, just two weeks ago we brought a group of Gulf fishermen and business owners to the Capitol to talk to Senate staffers and the Department of Interior about why drilling should not be expanded.

As I told the Washington Post yesterday, anyone who loves our beaches, fishes in the ocean, or depends on a healthy coastal economy can thank the Obama administration for protecting our coasts and marine wildlife.  [1] The BP disaster earlier this year was a tragic reminder that drilling is a dirty and dangerous business.  This victory gives me hope that our leaders have learned a valuable lesson: The only way to truly keep our coasts and ocean ecosystems safe is to keep them rig-free.

This is one of those rare, unequivocal victories for the environment, a day when an important part of the world is protected from a bad thing.  As we celebrate this victory, I’m grateful for the help you’ve given us, and look forward to your continued support as we work to protect our coasts.  I also urge you to e-mail President Obama and thank him for standing up to Big Oil and for protecting our coasts.

1. Washington Post