ASBURY PARK: Citizens Join Hands Against Offshore Drilling

Yesterday, Saturday June 26th, NJ residents joined together to create the largest global gathering against offshore drilling. Citizens met at the Asbury Park Boardwalk and joined hands along the shoreline as part of an international Hands Across the Sand day of action.

"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. Hands Across the Sand is an unprecedented global call to action. The power is within our hands: we must convince President Obama to rescind his expansion of oil drilling. We must also declare a personal war against oil—conserve energy, drive less, swear off of single-uses renewable plastics, and rally others to do the same," stated Cindy Zipf, Executive Director of Clean Ocean Action.

"This event has to be more than a one day event, joining hands on the beach to protect the environment. It has to be about each and every one of us going home to our lives and making a proactive change in our energy use and how we affect the environment. We are all at fault for the great destruction of the Gulf and we must be part of the solution," said Ed Johnson, Mayor of Asbury Park.

"The Gulf disaster is proof-positive that what happens in the Gulf can happen here except the destruction would be infinitely worse because the survival of our entire Atlantic coast is tied to the health of our coastal waters. Economics and environment go hand in hand, and the disaster would dwarf any minimal economic benefits gained by these short-sided wells. Today, thousands of Americans are offering a helping hand not only to our oceans, but to Americans long-term economic security," said Edison Wetlands Association Executive Director Robert Spiegel.

"Instead of just being mad as hell, we have to channel our energy to protect our oceans and our beaches," said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. "We need to stop the drilling off our coasts and instead build a green energy economy."

The Hands Across the Sand events are aimed at steering America's energy policy away from its dependence on fossil fuels and towards clean energy. The goal is to convince leaders like President Obama to abandon offshore oil drilling and adopt policies that encourage clean energy instead.

For more information go to Clean Ocean Action, Sierra Club or SurfRider Foundation.

HANDS ACROSS THE SAND: JUNE 26

On June 26, New Jersey residents will join the largest nationwide gathering against offshore drilling ever held.

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. Let us share our knowledge, energies and passion for protecting all of the above from the devastating effects of oil drilling.

"On June 26th we will link hands for the future of America, for the environment and the economy," said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. "We can continue failed policies of the past that have risk our coasts and our economy, or we can protect our coasts, tourism, and our economic future."

“As summer rolls into the Shore, we can’t forget that oil companies – even in light of the disaster in the Gulf – are still angling to drill off the Atlantic Coast,” said Doug O’Malley, field director for Environment New Jersey. “Across the state, the public is going to tell the President hands off our beaches and urge him to ban new off-shore drilling.”

Now is the time for America and our leaders to join hands and steer our country’s energy policy away from our dependence on fossil fuels and into the light of clean energy and renewables.

Join hands tomorrow, Saturday, June 26th at 12:00 and draw a line in the sand against offshore oil drilling.

Where:

Asbury Park, Asbury Park Boardwalk

Meg Gardner

citizens@cleanoceanaction.org

732-872-0111

Please meet for this location on the Asbury Park Boardwalk across the street from the Stone Pony (913 Ocean Ave). Take the Garden State Parkway South to Exit 102. Bear right off the exit ramp onto Asbury Ave and continue heading east all the way to the ocean, following the signs to Asbury Park. *When you reach the ocean, bear left onto Ocean Ave. The Stone Pony will be on your left, two blocks up at the corner of Second and Ocean; walk across the street to the boardwalk. Garden State Parkway north to Exit 100A. Bear east on Route 66 and continue heading east all the way to the ocean, following the signs to Asbury Park.

For more information go to Facebook

RSVP on Facebook:

Seaside Heights

For more information go to Facebook

Other New Jersey Beaches Near You:

What You'll Do:

STEP 1

Go to the beach at 11 AM in your time zone for one hour, rain or shine.

STEP 2

Join hands for 15 minutes at 12:00 forming lines in the sand against oil drilling in our coastal waters.

STEP 3

Leave only your footprints.

Hands Across The Sand was founded by Floridian Dave Rauschkolb in October of 2009. Hands Across The Sand is endorsed by national environmental organizations including Sierra Club, Audubon, Clean Ocean Action, Environment New Jersey, 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

BP RUN ADS "TO MAKE THIS RIGHT"

BP ran ads in New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and the Washington Post according to AdAge.com. Their tagline, "We will get it done. We will make this right" hardly provides a warm and fuzzy feeling about the worst U.S. environmental disaster in history. Everyone knows oil is still spewing from their pipeline and after over a month they have been unsuccessful at capping what seems like a never ending crude oil flow. Placing the new ad with the 2004 versions I posted last month add to the irony of their meaninglessness.

BP will most likely never recover from this catastrophe, which should have been prevented to begin with. Now it seems obvious that there aren't other oil companies that have a contingency plan for the problem either. If they did, they would come forward as a PR hero to fix the problem. It's quite discouraging that the public was told that oil rigs were safe because nothing had ever happened before. Beyond that, not having a plan for how to deal with a huge environmental blow like this is unconscionable. The best we have is a "unified command established to manage response operations" at Deepwater Horizon Response. Stay up-to-date on the latest news.

Live feeds from various remote vehicles (BP site)

Photos

US Coast Guard Photos