An event to protest offshore drilling, 'Hands Across the Sand' will see potentially hundreds of people come to Alki Beach to join hands at noon on Saturday June 26. The event co-sponsored by political organization Moveon.org will begin at 11am near the Alki Bathhouse. The organizers have a form for those who wish to participate here.. At noon, participants will join hands, forming a line on the beach for 15 minutes.

This protest is not new or formed specifically to protest the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. It began in 2009 when Florida restaurant owner Dave Rauschkolb formed the Hands Across The Sand organization. In February, 2010 he organized a statewide gathering in his state to protest offshore drilling. That successful effort has now grown to be international in scope. According to Rauschkolb there are 852 total events organized with 757 events organized in the U.S., in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. There are events organized in 518 different U.S. cities. 87 cities outside the U.S. will be staging events as well.

The following countries are participating:
Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Belize, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Germany, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Spain, France, United Kingdom, Greenland, Croatia, Ireland, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Lebanon, Mexico, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Poland, Sweden, Turkey, Tanzania, South Africa.

Rauschkolb said, "It's grown to be much bigger than I ever imagined." Three weeks prior to the Deepwater Horizon explosion he spoke to a woman in Virginia and gave her permission for a local event, then the disaster in the Gulf began and one sleepless night he realized he could, with help make the effort bigger.

He flew to Washington D.C. and met with some of the event sponsors and after garnering support, built the website and launched the program. He decries the current debate saying, " We're locked in a circular, negative discussion over partisan politics when what we really need to be doing is changing our energy policy away from fossil fuels and toward clean and renewable energy."

Hands Across the Sand locally will see people at area beaches taking part from Edmonds to Des Moines and elsewhere. One participant, local realtor Brent Fosso said, "I took part in the protest years ago against the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska and that one had a big turnout. I support all efforts to promote a cleaner marine environment."
The local organizer in West Seattle is Rick Harlan.

The organization's official press release:

Hands Across the Sand is now international. Any person in any country may plan events on the handsacrossthesand.org website.
This is a peaceful gathering of the people of America and the world.

Planning an event is as simple as this:
 Go to your beach on June 26 at 11 AM in your time zone. 
Form lines in the sand and at 12:00, join hands.

The image is powerful, the message is simple. NO to Offshore Oil Drilling, YES to Clean Energy.

On Saturday, June 26, Americans and the people of the world in solidarity events will join hands on beaches and in parks and cities united against the dangers offshore oil drilling present to our oceans and marine wildlife, fishing industries and coastal economies, in Hands Across The Sand.

Hands Across The Sand‘s mission is to change our energy policy away from its dependence on fossil fuels and into the light of clean energy. The aim is to convince our leaders to abandon expanded offshore oil drilling and adopt policies that encourage clean and renewable energy sources.

“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 US Congress to lift the ban on oil drilling in the near and off shores of Florida. Thousands joined hands from Jacksonville to Miami Beach and Key West to Pensacola Beach. The lifting of the near shore ban would have brought oil rigs as close as 3 miles from Florida‘s shores. Shortly after the event the Florida Legislature tabled the effort.

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

Dave Rauschkolb is a surfer and the owner of 3 restaurants on the beach in Seaside, Florida, located on the northern Gulf Coast between Pensacola and Panama City.