38,000 Attend Earth Day Festival

The Community Environmental Council welcomed over 38,000 visitors to its 2011 Earth Day Festival this past weekend. Two thousand people powered themselves via bicycle to the “Powered by the People” themed celebration. Another 500 test-drove alternative-fueled vehicles at the Green Car Show. Last year’s recipient of the Environmental Hero Award, filmmaker James Cameron, passed the mantle to actress Daryl Hannah, who said she was “thrilled that people in Santa Barbara are focusing their energy and thoughts to their community and ways to exist more harmoniously with the earth.” A major goal of the festival was to educate community members on how they can reduce their fossil-fuel dependence.