Photos and video: ‘Hands Across the Sand’ at Alki

| Environment | West Seattle beaches | West Seattle news

ORIGINAL 12 PM “HAPPENING NOW” REPORT: On the beach right now – 157 people holding hands as part of “Hands Across the Sand.” It’s part of a nationwide demonstration against offshore oil drilling and for clean-energy development.

More info here; more photos to come. ADDED 1:52 PM: Here’s one courtesy of Cathy, as the participants gathered at Alki Statue of Liberty:

And another of ours:

ADDED 4:14 PM: Two video clips – one as the line formed, and one in which we talked with organizers:

That’s Stacia Jenkins and Rick Harlan.

velo_nut June 26, 2010 (1:44 pm)

Drill baby… DRILL!!!

Jack June 26, 2010 (3:22 pm)

Curious how many people drove a petroleum fueled vehicle to this event..

marty June 26, 2010 (3:32 pm)

If only it was that simple. We will need offshore drilling until reasonably priced alternatives are developed. That will take years.

Chip June 26, 2010 (3:59 pm)

Typical liberal rose-colored glasses. I so wish they could all live in the world they so want to create. I wonder how long it would take them to come running back. Gas prices triple, electric rates skyrocket, the economy sinks to new lows and many many jobs are lost.

It’s so easy and intellectually dishonest to “protest” for things that sound nice but would never work in the real world.

WSB June 26, 2010 (4:21 pm)

Kind of a side note but we just stopped by an electric-vehicle dealership that’s south of downtown, near Goodwill, MC Electric Vehicles. We’ve corresponded off and on with a West Seattleite from the company. In case you’re thinking about giving up gas-powered vehicles but not ready to ride bikes or walk everywhere … they even have models hitting the market soon that go highway speed, and currently have smaller ones for “neighborhood” use that would be perfectly feasible if you just have to get around the peninsula (and occasionally to downtown). http://www.mcelectricvehicles.com/

Ashley June 26, 2010 (4:04 pm)

Geez, curmudgeons. I think it’s great! More beach stranger hand-holding!

Vanessa June 26, 2010 (4:12 pm)

Oh, Jack, don’t be a spoil sport(s) vehicle….

Truth out June 26, 2010 (4:44 pm)

Wow-how many of you have all been brainwashed? Get your heads up! We have the ability NOW to get over 75% of this country off fossil fuels with the right investment and corresponding conservation. While you sit and bitch about how it’s not possible think of this, right now China is surpassing us in every form of renewable. What happened to the America that went to the moon? If we do not stop using fossil fuel we will die. Not only will this country cease to exist, but your prodigy don’t stand a heck of a good chance either. Wake up and listen to what the scientist are telling us. Do you want an economy that is based on real costs (trillion dollar wars in the Mid-East) or are you all ready to pass this to the next generations? How expensive is the gulf disaster? Is the loss of entire ocean cheap enough for you? Ask the people in the gulf if they would rather have cheap oil or the ocean. With what BP set aside (by the way 20 billion is only going to cover the payouts for about two weeks) factories could be built starting now to manufacture solar, the funds could be used to retrain workers. The gulf will never recover. It’s now or never. Let’s be Americans again, let’s meet this challenge.

TJ June 26, 2010 (5:20 pm)

@Jack: Everyone I spoke to down there walked. But I think a deeper question is why would anyone drive a petroleum fueled vehicle to this event? What are our alternatives right now? If you live further than you can walk, you can take your life in your hands and ride a bike on the road, or you can take a very long time and ride public transportation. The line in the sand not only asks to stop offshore drilling, it asks for development of alternative fuels. We could put a man on the moon when we had the public will to do it. Now need viable alternatives to oil.

JoAnne June 26, 2010 (7:40 pm)

Well if they didn’t drive to the event, they still drive cars, just like the rest of us. They also take showers and fly in airplanes, just like everyone else.

Furthermore, if we had been drilling closer to shore instead of hundreds of miles deep and offshore, the spill would certainly have been contained weeks ago!

It’s just so dumb and unrealistic to protest every possible solution to our energy needs.

Ricky Ronny June 26, 2010 (8:24 pm)

The Line in the sand we made today by holding hands with our new and old friends was a dedication to two necessary tasks. NO to dangerous offshore oil drilling. YES to truly clean and efficient energy sources.

Petroleum and natural gas are precious resources that should be preserved in case future generations (presuming that humans survive the actions and inactions of today) need emergency fuel. Ice ages have happened before; nuclear war “winter”, not yet, somehow. Life is uncertain, and historically the planet is catastrophic along with beautiful.

If it wasn’t obvious before the BP disaster (Exxon Valdez before that) or before the investment banks/derivatives/bailout (savings and loan scandal before that), corporations are running the country– and the world– and running our futures and the planet’s health right into the ground.

This can’t last. We are going to need each other for the long haul. That’s why it was so good to get to talk to each other in small groups today on Alki:
to find out what made us show up;
what were our early connections to Nature;
where we first noticed pollution or deadbeat adult leaders making it worse;
and what we intend to DO about it, as community members, citizens and fellow breathing creatures.

Congratulations and thanks to everyone who made today at Alki such a powerful event. Best also to anyone reading who wasn’t there. See you !

Norma Berube-Adler June 26, 2010 (9:51 pm)

Of course some people rode in their vehicles to this event. Most who did certainly had no other choice. That’s the point. People still need to get from point A to point B. Oil does not have to be part of this equation. I no longer live in West Seattle but I am so proud of those individuals who took a stand today.

Jack June 26, 2010 (10:02 pm)

Good answer, Ronnie. What did you decide to do to stop off shore drilling and find new resources for energy? I am all for new ways of getting around. Does anyone else wonder if it’s really that difficult to come up with technology for this endeavor, or is it already being supressed by powers greater than the average world citizen? Just thoughts..and I am not into conspiracy theories usually.

Les Treall June 26, 2010 (11:02 pm)

I didn’t make it to this event, but wish I had. If I had gone, I would have driven. Just because I’m part of the problem does not exclude me from also being part of the solution and working for better transit options and a sustainable society.
Thanks to those who put this together and to those that took the time to go, no matter how you got there. You all have your heads out of the sand looking for solutions not in the sand hiding from them.
Les Treall

AlkiMom June 27, 2010 (12:07 am)

There are ways to make people conserve. When I lived overseas in the 70’s, most people had solar power. Why? – because electricity was very, very expensive. We had gas stoves, portable furnaces and water heaters that didn’t have auto pilot flames due to the cost of the gas. We lit them when we needed them. No problem. We had a washer that heated its own water to the desired temperature if needed. We drove small cars. Why? Because gas was $4 a gallon — while people here whined about paying 75 cents a gallon. We used lots less water in the summertime because they shut it off four days a week! We had a big tank on our rooftop to handle the ‘off’ days. The powers that be made everything really expensive through taxes, and that forced people to conserve or pay through the teeth. And because the taxes made those other services/products so expensive, public transportation was pretty cheap and available. There are solutions, but we’re a pretty spoiled bunch and we prefer that ‘they’ make the sacrifices. It changed my habits dramatically — habits I carry forward to this day when possible.

yacman June 27, 2010 (7:23 am)

There are nearly FOUR THOUSAND active oil platforms in the Golf of Mexico alone. I think it is unrealistic to think that a few people holding hands on a beach is going to result in changing this fact. The real solution will happen when oil is so expensive, because of scarcity, and alternatives become cheaper, due to increased efficiency and production scaling. Then the changeover will be quite rapid (I hope.)

Joseph June 27, 2010 (7:29 am)

I am sorry but I find these kind of events a waste of time and energy. Do you really think the oil company is going to be shaking in their boots because some people stood on the beach to hold hands?
Hit them where it hurts the most in their wallets. If you are so serious about this , stop using your car for a week.
I have found people here have do a good talk , but most do not do the walk.

yacman June 27, 2010 (9:28 am)

I think that many underestimate the number of products and services that are dependent on oil. How about a list:

plastics
fertilizers
trucking
boating
shipping

This is just a few. Just reducing your driving, although this doesn’t hurt, or gathering on a beach holding hands, does not solve the problem. It is a very tough problem and I hope that smarter people than me can figure it out.

Liz Burn June 27, 2010 (10:00 am)

Yay Alki! Hugs from Salt Water State Park Des Moines, WA. Thought about joining you but thought it best to run our own event in S Seattle and represent.

Photos here

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064866&id=1091678379&l=0e1b9a1505

A tanker passed us by right before we joined hands and a whale jumped behind it. You can barely see it in the FB album photo (I posted a before and after) Whale can be seen better in the original. FB automatically re-sizes photos.

Smitty June 27, 2010 (10:08 am)

Drill, baby, drill to support our bad habits (just as long as it’s not off OUR shores!).

Pollute your own darn waters so that we – the US of A – can drive our cars and hold hands on the beach.

Kelly June 27, 2010 (12:33 pm)

Isn’t the point of an event like this to get people thinking and talking about the problem? Those of you who are b*tching about these people not doing anything and just standing on the beach holding hands, well, what did you do yesterday to raise awareness of this issue? What are you doing to solve the problem?
Or maybe you are like Chip, and you don’t seem to think that we have an energy problem.
.
And to Chip, I don’t think this present economy is so fantastic nor do I believe that our current energy situation is viable for long. So no, I don’t think that I’m going to “come running back” to your imagined utopia. You really think this is the best “real world” we can have? I disagree.

velo_nut June 27, 2010 (5:28 pm)

Actually, I celebrated their hand holding by filling up my Land Rover Discovery with 20 gallons of premium fuel.

What June 27, 2010 (5:41 pm)

This event reminds me of the star fish story.
….. I don’t expect the Drill baby drill people to know this one
…….
A small boy heard that an unsual low tide was going to strand and kill many many starfish. He went down to the beach to gather them up and throw them back into the water so they wouldn’t die. A very negative person teased him and told the boy his efforts were stupid and didn’t matter.
The boy picked up another starfish threw it back into the water and said…. It mattered to that one.
….
Sure it’s not the be all end all solution… But we have to start some where. Raising some awareness is a start.

sam June 28, 2010 (8:54 am)

yacman- you raise a good point regarding all the other items that use petroleum.. the list is long.
I don’t know if I have super sensitive nose or what but my husband bought some cheap flips flops that stank of ‘gas’ to high heaven. likewise, some suit cases. needless to say neither were allowed in the house.

we need to look more places than just our cars to reduce our dependency.