Hands Across the Sand is an international event aimed at raising awareness about the dangers of offshore drilling to the world’s oceans and to urge the use of clean energy.

DUNEDIN – The Dunedin Causeway will be one of more than 25 locations across Florida and hundreds around the US and the world that will be part of Hands Across the Sand, a synchronized event with a goal to raise awareness about the dangers of dirty fossil fuels in our oceans, lakes and waterways, and the need to speed the transition to affordable clean energy solutions.

This family-friendly event encourages people from all walks of life, including neighbors, local community leaders, businesses, schools and universities, groups and organizations to join hands for 15 minutes in a show of silent solidarity.

Hands Across the Sand is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. (hands will be joined at noon) Saturday (May 18) at the Dunedin Causeway, 308 Causeway Blvd, Dunedin. It will be on the north side of Dunedin Causeway across from the public restrooms and the High and Dry Grill.

The event s organized by Dunedin City Commissioner Jeff Gow, the League of Women Voters of North Pinellas and the Suncoast Group of Sierra Club. Scheduled speakers include Gow, Dunedin Mayor Julie Ward Bujalski; Karen Karinja, president of North Pinellas County League of Women Voters; Dory Larsen, Electric Vehicle Program, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy; and Bryan Beckman, Sierra Club Ready for 100 percent Pinellas Clean Energy Lead

Floridian Dave Rauschkolb founded Hands Across the Sand  in October 2009. Hands Across the Sand is sponsored by national environmental organizations including Oceana, Surfrider Foundation, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Sierra Club, Earth Ethics, Healthy Gulf and many others.

Organizers say that drilling off the coast of Florida is the opposite of investing in a green energy future and fails to honor international agreements to fight climate change. The impacts of these actions will affect people across the world.

Hands Across the Sand participants will encourage local elected officials to formally oppose the draft plan to expand offshore drilling  and to take a stronger stand against the expansion of offshore drilling along the coast including banning seismic testing. The events are particularly salient this year with the Trump Administration’s draft plan to expand offshore drilling to almost every square inch of the American coastline and an assault on public lands.

Hands Across the Sand events are also scheduled in Tarpon Springs, Clearwater Beach, Indian Rocks beach, and Madeira Beach. For a complete listing of all Hands Across the Sand events and additional information, go to handsacrossthesand.org . For information about the Dunedin event, go to facebook.com/events/311881166162258.

Photo courtesy of the Suncoast SIerra Club.

Hands Across the Sand | Environment | Offshore Drilling | Tampabay News

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