The Virginian-Pilot
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VIRGINIA BEACH
To protest of offshore drilling and to promote clean energy, about 1,000 people held hands along the Oceanfront on Saturday.
The event was part of an international campaign called Hands Across the Sand. In Virginia Beach, the event at 31st Street attracted participants with signs and petitions. Starting at noon, the line stretched from 31st Street to 22nd Street with a few gaps, and participants shuffled down the beach and held hands.
"I'm very, very excited. In my book, it was 100 percent successful," said Eileen Levandoski, organizer of the Virginia events. "This was phenomenal, the fact that we were able to pull this off in the first place."
Organizers expected almost 800 events in all 50 states and 72 international cities. Sponsors included the Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation and Oceana.
Saturday's event spawned from a protest in February, when thousands staged a similar demonstration in Florida.
Other spots in Hampton Roads that hosted Hands Across the Sand included Ocean View in Norfolk, Buckroe Beach in Hampton and two more Virginia Beach locations.
"The Gulf Coast oil spill disaster provides a vivid reminder that the price of offshore oil is far too high," said Chelsea Harnish, a regional campaign coordinator for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.
"What our great commonwealth needs is a permanent ban on offshore drilling."
Lisa Young of Virginia Beach attended with her 10-year-old daughter, Morgan, and said she wants to keep the beach clean for her daughter's generation. Morgan, she said, was very upset about how the Gulf Coast spill has harmed fish and other marine animals.
Ellison Turpin, 17, of Virginia Beach, said the group that gathered at 31st Street sent an important message, no matter how small.
Allison Chin, former national president of the Sierra Club board of directors, said it's now obvious that offshore drilling is risky, dirty and dangerous.
" This is a wake-up call, and America's really on the alert that we've got to change our habits," she said.
"We've got to break our addiction to oil, and make a real commitment to getting onto clean energy."
Shayna Meliker, (757) 4446-2326,shayna.meliker@pilotonline.com
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I am guessing
I am guessing that all these people who showed up for this protest walked to the ocean front or rode their bikes or even Drove their Fully electric cars(wait they dont have those yet)
But NONE of them drove their Gas(Oil produced) vehicles.
And dont say some of them could have driven a hybrid cause you still have to put gasoline in!!
Kinda hypocritical?
Energy Savings humor
Lower East Side NY. Guy comes home all excited. Says to his wife: "Honey, I just saved a nickel by walking home instead of taking a streetcar!" "Och," says his wife," what a stoop I married! Streetcar, schmeetcar! Why didn't you walk home instead of taking a TAXI and save fifty cents?!"
Interesting
I understand why these people chose to protest and call for a ban to off-shore drilling. I wonder if these same people would protest drilling on American soil for oil. the bottom line is until they find another cost effective way there will always be a need for oil. You can't have your cake and eat it too!
right
I read somewhere that the process of manufacturing, shipping, deploying and maintaining the current generation of power-generating windmills actually burns more energy than a typical unit creates in its operational lifetime. That's not to say we shouldn't be researching and improving the technology...but let's use what we have while we still have it.
When it becomes cheaper and more efficient to deploy wind energy (or solar, etc.) than it is to drill deeper and deeper for oil, the free market will move our dependence naturally. If we still have some semblance of a free market by then, anyway.
That's easy
That's easy to drive your cars somewhere and have a little party. Now, try the hard and actually come up with rational solutions. And, no, yelling "wind and solar" is not a rational solution.
We could start by not being
We could start by not being such glutons wanting everything we see and driving everywhere we can.
Thank you Protestors
Your care and selflessness is an example to us all. God Bless America... Love this land
Not selfless
Patting yourself on the back for doing useless things is not selfless. It's actually a self centered desire to feel good about yourself. Selflessness would be giving up something you consider valuable to help someone else.
Shallow By Comparison
First, we need to know if there really is oil of sufficient economical quantity off Virginia to make it worthwhile. Does anyone remember oil shale lol? Secondly the depths of the well-heads off Virginia's coastline would be in water probably less than 500 feet deep thanks to the continental shelf. Perhaps the ban should be on deep water wells?
What about oil shale?
What about oil shale? That's still viable, but it's going to be at a time where oil cost significantly more. There's a number of research facilities out there.