Hundreds of people gathered at West Beach in Santa Barbara and joined hands in a public demonstration against new offshore oil drilling along California’s coast.
For attendees, the event last Saturday also served as a warning that expanding infrastructure for nonrenewable energy sources threatens beaches, ocean ecosystems, and the communities that rely on them.
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According to the Santa Barbara Independent, the West Beach turnout was part of Hands Across the Sand, a statewide action held in roughly a dozen seaside communities for the California Coastal Act’s 50-year anniversary.
The anniversary gave participants a chance to emphasize the CCA’s role in protecting coastal resources and preserving public access to the shoreline while also speaking out against additional offshore drilling.
Speaking early in the program, Toni Cordero, a tribal leader, tomol paddler, and an Environmental Defense Center board member, noted that the event was being held at one of her ancestral villages: “I ask you please to reflect on the fact that you are standing on unceded ancestral homelands of the Chumash peoples.”…