Events on Beach Support to Gulf Oil Clean Up

CAPE MAY — Folks will gather on Cove Beach here June 26 beginning at 11:30 a.m. and join hands at noon to make a human chain as part of “Hands Across the Sand” to show support for those cleaning up oil in the Gulf region and clean energy.
“From 12 to 12:15, it’s just 15 minutes linking hands across the beach just in recognition of what’s going on down in Gulf and to support clean energy,” said Kim Hannum who is organizing the event in Cape May. “It’s a gathering not a protest.”
“We’re for clean energy and opposed to offshore drilling,” she continued.
She said while many local people would like to help out in the oil clean up, they may not be able do so. Hannum said the possibility exists some oil could make its way to our county beaches.
Everyone will need a beach tag to step onto the Cove Beach here.
Hands Across the Sand will also take place at the same time in Wildwood behind the “beach balls,” at the water’s edge, in Wildwood Crest at Heather Road in front of the fishing pier, North Wildwood, First Street Beach left of the rock pier, in Town Bank, Shore Drive and Elwood Road on the beach and in Ocean City at 12th Street and the Boardwalk.
Hands Across the Sand is a movement made of people of all walks of life and crosses political affiliations. This movement is not about politics, it is about protection of our coastal economies, oceans, marine wildlife, and fishing industry, according to the group’s website.
The event will be held on beaches throughout the nation to convince state legislators, governors, congress and President Obama to stop the expansion of offshore oil drilling and to adopt policies encouraging clean and renewable energy sources.
An event was held in Florida on Feb., 13 with thousands of Floridians representing 60 towns and cities and over 90 beaches joining 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.
Florida’s Hands Across The Sand event was the largest gathering in the history of Florida.
Hands Across The Sand is endorsed by national and international environmental organizations including Sierra Club, Audubon, Surfrider, Oceana, Greenpeace, Defenders of Wildlife, Alaska Wilderness League, Ocean Conservancy, Friends of the Earth, Environment America, 350, MoveOn.org, Center for Biological Diversity and CleanEnergy.org
Any person can go to the handsacrossthesand.org website and sign up to organize a beach or city: http://www.handsacrossthesand.com/