UPDATE: Hands Across the Sand will not be taking place in person this year due to the COVID crisis, however, you can help Hands Across the Sand make a statement this year nonetheless by joining the virtual action. While we can’t join hands in person, Hands Across the Sand will be making a virtual line in the sand by joining together video clips of supporters like you from all over the country into a video that will be released on May 16. Hands Across the Sand has issued a call for video clips from beach-lovers like you of either a brief selfie video of yourself saying why you support protecting our coast from the impacts of offshore drilling or a clip from a Hands event you’ve previously attended. Submit your video clip here by May 1 and join with beach-lovers like yourself even in this time of social distancing. On May 16, tune in here at noon, eastern time, to participate in the live video broadcast.

Offshore drilling risks our coastal economy, environment, and quality of life. Oil-free beaches support billions of dollars of income and employment for hundreds of thousands of people in the Southeast and must be protected for today’s and future generations. Offshore oil would threaten our coastal economies and has the potential to cause major oil spills, ongoing smaller spills, and leaks that occur as part and parcel of the oil industry.

Read how South Carolina leaders are pushing bills forward to protect our coasts.

It’s no wonder that given the huge risks of offshore drilling, coastal communities overwhelmingly oppose pushes by the federal government to place offshore oil drilling in the Atlantic and Eastern Gulf of Mexico. But the Trump Administration has proposed opening 90% of our nation’s ocean area to offshore drilling, and while it is currently not actively pursuing this proposal, it is still the official position of the administration. Take action to tell your elected officials not to support this risky measure!

It’s up to us to show the federal government that expanding offshore drilling off our coast is a bad idea. It is local opposition to drilling that has caused the administration to put its drilling plans on indefinite hold. Showing more local opposition to drilling will help keep it that way!

Can’t make a video but still want to take action? Click here to sign a petition telling our leaders to not support offshore drilling!