About twenty-five people joined hands on the Lawrencetown beach on Saturday June 26, to make a visual statement against offshore oil drilling and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
On the same day, tens of thousands joined hands worldwide in more than 800 locations around the world.
The event was called “Hands Across the Sand”. It began in Florida back in October before the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Founder Dave Raushkolb writes in an open letter on the Hands Across the Sand website, “The Deepwater Horizon disaster is a wake up call…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 America and the World.”
Daina Scarola organized the event for Lawrencetwon. She has had no previous experience in organizing protests,
“I’m not an activist, I’m not a protester and I’m not an environmentalist. I’m just a typical Canadian.”
When asked why she decided to organize the event she said,
“When I saw the images of the disaster and heard the stories I just cried and cried…I felt I had to do something about it."
“This is how people change the world. Not through voting, but from people getting together. That’s what happened with the civil rights movement and women’s rights.”
“ What we did here was just a demonstration to pay our respects to the ocean, to the animals and the people that have died...My intention was to show that we want clean energy alternatives and no more offshore drilling."
And by that she does mean ceasing all present and future offshore drilling operations. She knows that it will take time to transition to a cleaner energy economy.
Her suggestion for a solution would be a government "retraining program". This would be a program to train those who formerly worked in the offshore oil industry to get familiar with and to find jobs in working with clean energy sources.
But, Scarola adds, she does not expect this to take place over night or even in her lifetime. As for the future, she is uncertain, though she would like to continue working against offshore drilling.
"I'm not planning another event. I just don't have the experience as an organizer. I'm too soft to handle this bullshit. But I will still help out in any way I can. And I know there are many people who would be willing to step up.”
