Naples News: Hand Across the Sand Event planned for Naples Beach & Washington Post: Environmentalists plan offshore oil drilling protect on Virginia beaches

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/jun/10/hands-across-sand-protect-florida-coast-oil-spill/

The National Hands Across the Sand movement, which says “no” to oil and “yes” to renewable energy, will form a line on the beach by holding hands beginning at noon on Saturday, June 26. Candy Strafford welcomes all ages to join her as early as 11 a.m. near the Vanderbilt Beach Access located at the end Vanderbilt Beach Road, just west of the Ritz- Carlton Beach Resort. Get more information at (facebook.com/handsacrossthesand)
Event Details
        *       What: Hands Across the Sand
     *       When: Saturday, June 26, 2010, 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
    *       Where: Naples Beach
     *       Cost: Not available
     *       Age limit: All ages
Full event details »
IF YOU GO
Vanderbilt Beach Parking Garage
Parking sticker required, or $8 parking fee; meters also available
100 Vanderbilt Beach Road, North Naples
Questions: 252-4000

For other locations, see Hands Across the Sand website: www.handsacrossthesand.com

Candy Strafford wants people to lend a hand to her – all in the name of protecting local beaches from off-shore oil drilling.

The Golden Gate Estates resident is a mother, and a grandmother, first and foremost. But she is now a pioneer in illustrating what peaceful environmental preservation is all about. Just using her one hand to reach out to others, as part of the National Hands Across the Sand movement, which says “no” to oil and “yes” to renewable energy.
Strafford, together with other Collier County residents, will form a line on the beach by holding hands beginning at noon on Saturday, June 26. Strafford welcomes all ages to join her as early as 11 a.m. near the Vanderbilt Beach Access located at the end Vanderbilt Beach Road, just west of the Ritz- Carlton Beach Resort.
Strafford is one of many community leaders spearheading an effort to reach out to thousands of local residents. She is asking all Floridians to take her up on the cause as part of the Hands Across the Sand movement, which originally started In Florida on Feb. 13 with a hand-holding chain of 10,000 people on nearly 100 beaches along the coastline.

“The message is simple. The images are powerful. We are drawing a line in the sand against offshore oil drilling along America’s beaches and in solidarity events across this great land,” the movement’s founder, Dave Rauschkolb, said.

Strafford agrees with Rauschkolb, and wants everyone to come together for the protection of pristine beaches in Naples, and beaches all over Florida.

“Because it is a national event, I was thinking it would be great to do it with my daughter and granddaughter,” said Strafford, as she strolls Vanderbilt Beach on a sunny morning with her 2-year-old granddaughter, Amaya, and her family, who is visiting Naples from England.

Those who cannot participate can take up their own “inland” cause by visiting handsacrossthesand.com, where they can check out the Hands Across the Sand interactive map to locate a beach nearby to link up.

“It’s so important for our future, and I became involved in the Hands Across the Beach’s movement just a short time ago,” said Strafford, who believes in promoting clean “green” renewable energy, and invites Naples, Marco Island and Bonita Springs residents to unite with her cause.

“This isn’t a protest, but it’s a gathering,” Strafford said, emphasizing the Hands Across the Sand movement as a community assembly, one without any political separations or age limits.
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http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2010/06/president_obama_may_have_put.html
Washington Post
June 10, 2010
Environmentalists plan offshore oil drilling protest on Virginia beaches

President Obama may have put an end to Virginia’s immediate offshore drilling plans, but that hasn’t stopped environmentalists from protesting any future possibility.

On June 26, activists will join hands on Virginia’s beaches to show their opposition to drilling on what is being dubbed as a National Day of Action. The event follows a similar one in Florida where 10,000 people locked hands on more than 80 beaches.
(Purell, anyone?)

“A spill or accident off the coast of Virginia, even at a fraction of the size of the Gulf Coast spill, would devastate our economy and our environment,” said Ari Lawrence, chair of the Virginia Beach Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, one of the groups organizing the event. “The only option is to put an immediate stop to drilling off our coasts and seek sustainable energy solutions that do not pose such a significant threat to our future or the livelihoods of the American people.”

Earlier today, Virginia’s senators, Jim Webb and Mark Warner, urged federal authorities to coordinate with emergency preparedness officials with coastal states in the event that the oil spill reaches the Atlantic Coast. Several experts have indicated that it is possible that the oil could reach the Gulf Stream and be carried up the Atlantic coast to Virginia, they said.

Webb and Warner were joined on the letter by 20 other senators, including Barbara Mikulski and Benjamin Cardin of Maryland.

By Anita Kumar  |  June 10, 2010; 2:34 PM ET

Special thanks to Richard Charter

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