Hands Across the Sand to highlight Hawaii’s vulnerability to oil

HONOLULU—On Saturday, June 26, hundreds of Hawaii residents are expected to join hands and line up along Hawaii’s beaches in a show of solidarity with people around the globe to say “no” to oil drilling and “yes” to a clean energy future. The activity, billed “Hands Across the Sand,” is being conducted at nearly 650 locations globally, including 13 beaches in Hawaii in order to demonstrate a united front against the dangers offshore oil drilling present to our oceans and marine wildlife, fishing industries, and coastal economies.

“People across our islands and across the globe will be joining hands in a show of support for our clean energy future,” said Francois Rogers, special projects director for Blue Planet Foundation, a nonprofit whose mission is to end the use of fossil fuel on Earth, starting by making Hawai‘i a model for energy independence. “The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico reminds us that our current oil dependence is neither clean, nor dependable, nor cheap.”

Blue Planet Foundation created the website handsacrossthesandhawaii.org to discuss the event, visually show the amount of oil that is spilling (and the amount Hawaii uses), and allow participants to upload photos of Saturday’s event and their own messages of hope.

Blue Planet Foundation is partnering with Malama Na Honu, Honua Consulting, Surfrider Foundation, Sierra Club, and dozens of other community organizations for this Saturday’s event.

“The image is powerful, the message simple,” said event founder Dave Rauschkolb. “No to offshore oil drilling, yes to clean energy. We are drawing a line in the sand against offshore oil drilling along America’s beaches and in solidarity events across America and around the world. No one industry should be able to place entire coastal economies and marine environments at risk with dangerous, dirty mistakes.”

Hands Across the Sand was founded by Dave Rauschkolb in October of 2009. He organized a statewide gathering on February 13, 2010, to send a message to Florida‘s legislators and Governor Crist that Floridians did not want them to lift the bans on near and offshore oil drilling in Florida’s waters. Thousands of Floridians representing 60 towns and cities and over 90 beaches joined hands to protest the efforts by the Florida Legislature and the U.S. Congress to lift the ban on oil drilling in the near and off shores of Florida. Shortly after the event the Florida Legislature tabled the effort and the ban remained.

In Hawaii, over 50 organizations representing a wide range of businesses and communities are supporting the Saturday effort. They are spreading awareness about the event and issues with their networks and asking individuals to join in the activity.

While Hawaii has no oil drilling, Hawaii’s dependence on imported oil has exposed the island waters to potentially massive oil spills on almost a weekly basis. On February, 23rd, 1977, the supertanker “Hawaiian Patriot” cracked its hull in a storm, resulting in a massive oil spill 300 miles west of Hawai’i. After leaking, the tanker caught fire and exploded, killing one crewmember and sending 99,000 tons of light Indonesian crude oil into the ocean. Hawaii currently imports some 45 million barrels of oil annually.

“While the Gulf disaster seems to be a world away, we can’t hide from the fact that we in Hawaii currently consume five and a half million gallons of oil daily,” said Rogers. “We are contributing to the demand for more oil drilling while we are exposing our islands to potentially massive oil spills.”

Blue Planet has been actively advocating and working towards Hawaii’s clean energy future. The organization is engaged in energy policymaking at the Public Utilities Commission and the State Legislature and building a clean energy movement in Hawai‘i with over 12,000 “Friends” of Blue Planet who support Hawaii’s energy independence. Blue Planet has also been implementing energy efficiency solutions, including swapping over 75,000 incandescent lights for energy efficiency compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs)—a program that will save Hawaii over 50,000 barrels of oil over the life of the new bulbs.

For more information and directions, visit handsacrossthesandhawaii.org.

Hands Across the Sand to support a clean energy future
Saturday, June 25 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Laniakea Beach on the North Shore of Oahu; Waikiki Beach