http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/offshore-oil-drilling-foes-to-protest-on-beaches/1072362
St. Pete Times
TampaBay.com

By Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer . Special thanks to Richard Charter
In Print: Thursday, February 11, 2010

Opponents of offshore drilling are hoping thousands of people dressed in black will join them Saturday holding hands on beaches around the state for 10 minutes.

The idea for the “Hands Across the Sand” protest came from Dave Rauschkolb, 48, who for the past 24 years has owned a beachfront restaurant called Bud & Alley’s in the Panhandle community of Seaside.

Rauschkolb, a surfer for more than 30 years, said his plan was as simple as could be: “How hard is it to get people to go to the beach in Florida?”
When he pitched the idea to some friends, it began to snowball. Now there are 70 beaches around the state where various groups have agreed to help sponsor a local version of the protest.

Doug Daniels, the Daytona Beach attorney representing the pro-drilling Florida Energy Associates LLC, said he hadn’t heard about Hands Across the Sand but that “it sounds like a fine protest.” As for whether it will have any impact on the Legislature, though, he said, “I doubt that it will.”

In fact, he said, he hopes his side can convince the protesters that drilling is environmentally safe. “We hope at the end of the day, we’ll have their support,” he said.

In the Tampa Bay area there are protests slated for Upham Beach, Clearwater Beach, Fort De Soto, St. Pete Beach, Gulfport, Lassing Park, Madeira Beach, Pass-a-Grille, Redington Shores, Clam Bayou, Treasure Island, and Tarpon Springs.

Organizers are asking opponents of drilling to dress in black – the color of an oil spill – and gather at their designated beach at 1 p.m. They want them to hold hands for 10 minutes, showing their solidarity.

 Craig Pittman can be reached at craig@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8530.

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/02/virginia-senate-kills-bill-offshoredrilling-profits

By Julian Walker
The Virginian-Pilot
© February 10, 2010

special thanks to Richard Charter

The Democratic majority in Virginia’s Senate this afternoon killed for the year legislation from Virginia Beach Republican Sen. Frank Wagner to dedicate future offshore drilling royalties to the state general fund, a coastal energy research consortium and to localities for transportation fixes.

Wagner carried SB601 on behalf of Gov. Bob McDonnell, whose transportation funding plan partly relies on money from drilling. It was defeated on a 22-18 party line vote.

Noting that federal officials haven’t yet approved drilling off Virginia’s coast or decided how royalties would be dispersed, Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax, called the bill “a fantasy” that seeks to dedicate dollars “the state is never going to see.”

In rebuttal remarks, Wagner said actions at the state and federal level in recent years have put Virginia closer to being granted approval for offshore drilling. Rejecting the bill sends the wrong signal to Washington, he argued. Upcoming November elections could alter the political makeup of Congress and change how it deals with offshore drilling, he added.

A similar defeat likely awaits offshore-drilling royalty legislation from Del. Chris Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, which previously passed the House of Delegates. That measure, HB756, already rests in the Senate Finance Committee, to which Wagner’s bill was dispatched.
________________________________________

http://www.dailypress.com/news/virginia/dp-va–xgr-offshoredrill0210feb10,0,1076395.story http://www.dailypress.com/news/virginia/dp-va–xgr-offshoredrill0210feb10,0,1076395.story
Daily Press
Dems say bill would give ‘false hope’
RICHMOND, Va. – The Virginia Senate has killed a measure pushed by Gov. Bob McDonnell to allocate funds received from possible offshore drilling for oil and gas off the state’s coast to services such as education, health care and public safety.

Democrats argued that Congress was not likely to approve the sale of leases for drilling rights, and to pass a bill allocating such royalties would give citizens false hope in tough economic times.

The Senate voted 22-18 Wednesday along party lines to send the proposal back to committee, where it will be carried over until next year.

The House passed a similar measure on Monday that would divert 70 percent of the revenues to transportation, 20 percent to energy research and 10 percent to localities.

http://www.pnj.com/article/20100209/NEWS01/2090315/1006/NEWS01/Hands-span-coast-against-offshore-oil-drilling

Pensacola News Journal

Hands span coast against offshore oil drilling
Opponents gathering across state to fight oil, gas exploration
BILL COTTERELL * NEWS JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU * FEBRUARY 9, 2010

The statewide “Hands Across the Sand” demonstration opposes proposals to permit oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. An industry spokesman said Monday the opponents are unfamiliar with cleaner new technology.

“The metaphor of joining hands goes much farther than what’s happening on Saturday,” said Dave Rauschkolb, a Seaside restaurateur who has spent about four months working on the project. “We can beat this in the Legislature if they hear the message of Floridians. We hope to make this a very unpopular thing for any member to vote for.”

Rauschkolb and environmental groups and coastal businesses fear tourism and fishing would be hurt by offshore rigs.

Using social-network sites, they arranged groups in almost every city and county along the coastlines to get like-minded people to the beach on Saturday, most wearing black, to symbolize an oil spill, for a hand-holding protest.

Nobody is estimating how many will turnout in any area, but the idea is to make the opposition highly visible.

“I’m hoping for more than 100 out here,” said Chasidy Hobbs of Pensacola Beach, who works with Emerald Coastkeeper, an environmental group. “We believe the economic benefits that can be gained from oil drilling are nowhere near the economic benefits that Florida reaps already from our coastline.”

Despite a surge of support in the Florida House last session, when a bill authorizing the governor and Cabinet to grant drilling leases was passed but stalled in the Senate, opponents are fired up and confident for the session starting March 2.

Dave Mica, executive director of the Florida Petroleum Council, said House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, remains an enthusiastic advocate of authorizing future leasing. Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, has told committees in his chamber to make a thorough study of tax benefits, jobs and environmental implications of drilling, effectively slowing the proposal.
“We hope we can at least create the framework legally for the state to process leases,” said Mica. “There will always be some detractors, but we believe they’re not looking at what the industry is doing now, in terms of being able to protect the coast.”

Florida Today
Editorial
“Hands Across The Sand”

Florida Today
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
 
The aggressive push for oil drilling off Florida’s shores is backed by a coalition of powerful, well financed business interests – Florida Energy Associates. They are working with out of state oil interests seeking to drill for oil and gas off the coast of the Florida. They’ve hired professionals, the best and most influential money can buy. Among those professionals are former aides to Governors Jeb Bush and Lawton Chiles who both opposed oil derricks. Now these same people are trying to convince us that dirty and dangerous offshore oil drilling is now clean and desirable.
 
We’ve had a sensible moratorium against offshore oil drilling for the past 20 years and since 2002 Florida tax payers have paid $127 million dollars to oil companies to buy up their offshore leases because clean, sandy beaches are our greatest asset. Listen to the Texans who carry solvents in their beach bags. For once, let this be a case where the one with the deepest pockets didn’t win. Let them spend their $$$ exploring clean energy alternatives.
 
On Saturday February 13th “The Citizens of Florida will have an opportunity to show their opposition to oil drilling as close as 3 to 10 miles off our coast.” Hands Across the Sand is a movement “made of people of all walks of life and will cross political affiliations. This movement is not about politics; it is about protection of our shoreline, our tourism, our valuable properties and our way of life. Let us share our knowledge, energies and passion for protecting our waterways and beaches from the devastating effects of oil drilling.”
http://www.handsacrossthesand.com/index.php
 
Join fellow Brevard County residents on Saturday Feb. 13th at 12:30 pm (rain or shine) at Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach for this important Statewide event. Bring your friends and family to show how much you love our beaches and want them protected. We will participate in a beach clean up and at 1:00pm form a line, and join hands in the sand for 10 minuets against oil drilling in our coastal waters. Participants are encouraged to wear black to represent “tar balls”.
 
Lori Wilson Park is located about a mile and a half south of S.R. 520 on A1A in Cocoa Beach. This is south of the Cocoa Beach Pier. There is no fee to park.
 
INFO: http://www.handsacrossthesand.com/index.php
CONTACT: Linda Behret lindyb@cfl.rr.com or 321-639-7302.
 
Supporting local organizations include the Space Coast Progressive Alliance SpaceCoastrogressiveAlliance.org and Brevard NOW BrevardNOW.org.

Local opponents of offshore oil drilling in Florida are joining a statewide protest to protect beaches in the Sunshine State.  Hands Across the Sand will take place Saturday on hundreds of Florida’s beaches, as concerned people dressed in black will link their arms along the shoreline in a silent and peaceful protest against oil drilling.

Local environmentalist Erika Biddle is organizing the event at several Florida Keys beaches, and is asking anyone who wants to protect the beaches from the risks of oil spills to wear black and head to a local beach at 1 p.m. Saturday.  “This is not a political thing because it concerns us all,” Biddle said Friday. “Look what the oil spills did in New Orleans after Katrina and in Australia. I would love for people to understand what it means.” 

Proposed state legislation would allow oil drilling to take place within three miles of Florida’s coast, although it would be prohibited inside the marine sanctuary that surrounds the Florida Keys.   That protection is not enough, said Billy Causey, regional manager of the National Marine Sanctuary Program and former superintendent of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Drilling in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico could have disastrous consequences in the Keys because the Loop Current constantly brings gulf water into the local marine environment.   “Any short-term benefit would not be worth the long-term risks,” Causey told The Citizen last year. Florida waterways support 5.8 million jobs and account for 79 percent of the state’s economy, he said. “If there was a spill, you would never make that revenue back. Can we really risk losing $562 billion per year?”

People like Biddle are saying, “No.”   The Hands Across the Sand protest started with a Florida restaurateur, she said.   “Now thousands of people are involved,” she said. “We can’t fight big oil with money, so we can only do it with numbers.”    Participating Keys beaches currently include Higgs Beach, Smathers Beach, Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, Anne’s Beach, Bahia Honda State Park, Sombrero Beach and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. A line of protesters will hold hands in solidarity for about 15 minutes.

For more information, go to http://www.handsacrossthesand.com or call Biddle at 305-295-0153 or e-mail her at erika.b@earthlink.net.

mbolen@keysnews.com