Message Received

Washington, D.C. -- The tide of public response to BP's Maconda oil catastrophe continues to rise. On Saturday, the world witnessed almost 1,000 rallies, with hundreds of thousands of people holding "Hands Across the Sand" to protest offshore oil drilling.

And today, the Sierra Club planted 10,000 flags on the National Mall here in Washington, a literal representation of the tens of thousands of "virtual" flags that our online supporters have planted in the cause of moving Beyond Oil. The Club was joined in planting the flags by the Truman National Security Project and the Communications Workers of America. The flags spell out these words: "Freedom From Oil." But as you might imagine, reading them from ground level is not easy -- so we wondered whether anyone other than the tourists looking down from the Washington Monument would get the message on-site.

But as Club Executive Director Mike Brune stood up to begin the ceremony, Marine 1, the helicopter that carries the President of the United States, flew overhead. So, thanks to the folks who asked to bear witness with us today, at least one very important part of the audience for America's national demand that we get off oil saw the message right there on the Mall.

To see for yourself how the flags looked from the air, check out the Sierra Club's homepage.

And if you haven't already added your flag online, you can still join the crowd -- and you won't have to go through airport security to be a part of it.