Hands Across the Sand created this video to promote the event.
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Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual anti-offshore drilling event Hands Across the Sand will be online this year.
Organizers are asking for a video of support or photo of past events be submitted online. Supporters can watch the live Facebook event at noon Saturday to “maintain the momentum of our focus to say no to fossil fuels and yes to clean energy.”
Organizers have created a video with photos that includes messages from the founder, sponsors, organizers and participants from the last 11 years for the online event as well.
Hands Across the Sand is held to bring awareness about the dangers inherent in securing and burning dirty fuels and to champion a new era of clean energy for a sustainable planet for our children and theirs, according to the release.
Floridian Dave Rauschkolb founded Hands Across The Sand/Land in October 2009 in response to a bill passed in the Florida House of Representatives that would lift a ban on nearshore drilling.
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“I founded Hands Across the Sand to bring organizations and individuals together to send a powerful message to leaders that expanding oil drilling in our oceans is a dirty, dangerous endeavor,” he said in a statement. “We must compel our local and national lawmakers to steer a clear path towards clean energy sources and decrease our dependence on dirty, dangerous fuels. Every oil spill endangers the coastal tourism industries, ravages the sea life and seafood industry and impacts the lives of every person in its path for generations after.”
With the support of sponsor organizations, more than 10,000 Floridians joined hands on Feb. 13, 2010, to show a united opposition to nearshore drilling. As a result of these efforts, the bill was tabled the next month,” he said. Two months later the BP Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico and a global Hands Across The Sand was organized to urge President Barack Obama to abandon his bid to open the continental United States waters to offshore oil drilling.
