Residents Join Hands to Protect Coast from Drilling
Hands Across the Sand participants to say “No” to risky fossil fuels and “Yes” to clean energy.
Contact: Chris Carnevale, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, chris@cleanenergy.org 843-225-2371
What: On May 17, communities all over the world will participate in the international Hands Across the Sand day of action by gathering at their local beach and joining hands to draw a line in the sand. This line will be a figurative way to say “no” to offshore drilling and risky fossil fuels and “yes” to clean renewable energy. Charleston’s Hands gathering will take place on Folly Beach.
A press conference will precede the joining of hands. The press conference will start at 11:50 a.m. and will feature comments on the subject of offshore drilling from Mayor Tim Goodwin, Brady Quirk-Garvan (Business Development Associate at Money with a Mission), and Chris Carnevale (Coastal Climate & Energy Coordinator at Southern Alliance for Clean Energy).
Since its first year in 2010, Hands Across the Sand has held thousands of gatherings in all 50 states and in 43 countries worldwide, including annual Folly Beach gatherings 2010-13. In South Carolina, Hands events will take place this Saturday in Myrtle Beach, Columbia, and Greenville as well. More information about Hands Across the Sand can be found at http://www.handsacrossthesand.org/.
When: Saturday, May 17
- Press conference at 11:50 a.m
- Joining of hands at 12:00 p.m.
Where: Folly Beach; on the beach adjacent to the pier (101 E. Arctic Ave.), in front of Tides Hotel.
Why: We believe that offshore drilling does not serve the interests of South Carolinians. Our tourism and fishing industries, as well as our region’s superb natural beauty, are too valuable to be jeopardized by such a limited amount of economic development associated with drilling. However, politicians have recently made moves to facilitate offshore oil and gas exploration and drilling, including the potential opening of the Atlantic coast to exploration by seismic blasting. This gathering is an opportunity to make a statement to our public officials that we want to see our coast protected from offshore drilling. Hands Across the Sand/Land events, taking place on May 17 across the country from Florida to Alaska and in countries around the world, are rejecting the use of various risky fossil fuel energy sources and their impacts, including offshore oil and gas drilling and exploration, coal fired power plants and coal ash, the Keystone XL pipeline and tar sands mining, etc.
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Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is a not-for-profit, non partisan organization working to promote responsible energy choices that solve global warming problems and ensure clean, safe, healthy communities throughout the Southeast. http://www.cleanenergy.org