Hands Across The Sand: Santa Monica Joins Global Demonstration Against Offshore Drilling

Close to 500 people gathered at the Santa Monica pier last Saturday to participate in the global Hands Across the Sand event. At 12pm, the participants lined up along the beach and held hands to show support for clean energy policy, protection and conservation efforts, and to oppose offshore oil drilling.

(Photo courtesy of Zach Behrens/LAist).

Campaign organizer Stefanie Sekich of Surfrider Foundation (who wrote a blog post about the event for Huffington Post) said this:

This isn't a [partisan] movement, this is a place for citizens to gather and express their concern to make sure that we have policies that are forward-thinking, that are sustainable, and that include conservation and renewable energy.

Actresses Amy Smart and Rosario Dawson also came to the event. Amy showed a lot of love for Santa Monica, saying "I'm celebrating these clean beaches."

Rosario, who is also a well-known environmental activist, reminded Angelenos that they needn't fly to the Gulf Coast to help the clean-up effort:

I might not be able to go down to New Orleans or see all the oil and help them clean up, but I can stop using plastic bags. I can donate a day's work to people who do relief work. I can do clean up at the beach. This could be an opportunity for all of us to say, 'Ok. let's stop being complicit in this oil usage. Let's get rid of gas-guzzlers, let's stop using plastic bags, no more styrofoam, nothing.' There's so many things we can do, we just need to make our voices heard before our leaders are going to do anything. We have to show that we care. Here we are today, to show that we care.