News
Hands Across The Sand
By Ryan Fennell
ASBURY PARK - On June 26 thousands of residents across New Jersey joined hands along the coastline as part of a global demonstration protesting the expansion of offshore oil drilling.
The worldwide event, known as Hands Across the Sand, began in Auckland, New Zealand and worked its way across the globe and concluded on the North Shore of Kauai, Hawaii. Each demonstration began at noon in its respective time zone. Participants held hands along coastlines and beaches facing bodies of water for approximately 15 minutes.
Several events were held along New Jersey's coastline including Asbury Park beach, where hundreds of people stretched the beach from end to end.
"Today we join in unity and solidarity with the community of the Gulf of Mexico to express outrage against the perils and horror caused by our addiction to oil and to resolve to clean up our act," said Cindy Zipf, Executive Director of Clean Ocean Action (COA) during a press conference held prior to the event.
Asbury Park provided all participants free access to the beach for the event's allotted time frame.
Asbury Park Mayor Ed Johnson challenged New Jersey residents in attendance to examine their respective lifestyles and resolve to make changes after the demonstration.
"It's easy to blame BP. It's easy to blame the federal government. It's easy to blame the oil workers," Johnson said. "We have to ask ourselves, what have we done? The reason we're drilling for more and more oil is because we've gotten so comfortable. We're used to getting in our cars and going doing whatever we want, going wherever we want without a thought. We'll just keep filling it up. We need to think about what we have done as a civilization. We need to become more aware of the energy we use."
"I want this day to be about each and every single one of us making a change in our lives," Johnson added.
U.S. Representative Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ-6) said that he is upset at the emphasis being placed on technology with regard to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
"There seems to be this idea out there that if we just find some technological answer that it's going to be OK and we can continue to drill further out into the ocean," Pallone said. "No, there is no technological solution here."
Pallone said that the oil industry sold the nation "a bill of goods."
"They said this deepwater drilling could occur and they would be able to control it and prevent a spill," continued Pallone. "They said if a spill occurred they could stop it. None of that is true. It never was true."
"The answer has to be no deepwater drilling, no expansion of drilling," added Pallone. "Not a moratorium but a permanent end."
State Senator Sean Kean (R-11) said that protecting the environment means protecting the economy.
"The New Jersey coastline is 120 miles of economic benefit to the state," Kean said. "We're in the middle of a very difficult budget year and the tourism industry in New Jersey is a $40 billion industry that spins off $2 billion to the state treasury. Without clean beaches our economy suffers and our state's national reputation suffers."
"My message to the legislature, to Congress, and to the president is that drilling is a mistake," Kean added.
"We're standing up for ourselves," said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. "We're locking hands together because in unity we can change things. Together we can make things happen. The future of the planet is at stake."
"There is a reason these events are taking place," said Edison Wetlands Association Director Bob Spiegel. "And that is because there is only one ocean."
Hands Across the Sand originated in February of this year when 10,000 Florida residents joined hands on the state's shoreline to protest the expansion of offshore drilling in the state.
