Hands Across the Sand Protest
**Events may have been canceled or postponed. Please contact the venue to confirm the event.
Date & Time
Sat, Sep 26 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Address (map)
200 W Cabrillo Blvd, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Venue
West Beach
Environmental and democracy advocacy groups, students, Tribal leaders, and many others will gather on the sand at Santa Barbara’s West Beach to join hands in solidarity and send one unified message: no new offshore oil drilling.
Hands Across the Sand will take place in nearly a dozen communities across the state, bringing together thousands of Californians to join hands at the water’s edge and take one unified photo that shows the country that California strongly opposes offshore oil drilling. We want a future with clean energy, clean water, and the promise of a strong democracy for our community and nation. Saturday’s event will also celebrate the 50th anniversary of the California Coastal Act and the work of the Coastal Commission in protecting and fighting for our waters and coastline across California.
WHAT: Rally, brief remarks by local leaders, and hundreds of community members joining hands at the water’s edge for one unified photo calling for no new oil drilling.
WHEN: Saturday, September 26
11:00 am — Gather in the sand at West Beach
11:15 am — Short program at the stage
12:00/noon — Photo/video opportunity at water’s edge
12:15 pm — Nonprofit tabling and collective action
WHERE: West Beach, Santa Barbara, CA (just north of the dolphin statue)
WHO: Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Center, Fearless Grandmothers, Community Environmental Council, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Surfrider Foundation, 805 Action, Clue SB, Unidos 805, 350 Santa Barbara, League of Women Voters, Last Chance Alliance, Sea League, Get Oil Out!, Indivisible Santa Barbara, and Women’s March.
SPEAKERS INCLUDE:
- Emily Engel, Santa Barbara Sierra Club
- Spencer Jaimes, Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation
- Linda Krop, Environmental Defense Center
- Meagan Harmon, California Coastal Commission Chair
- Ethan Maday, 805 Action and student activist
BACKGROUND:
Right now, California’s Central Coast is under threat from the Trump administration’s plan to open the entire coastline to new offshore drilling for the first time since 1984, allow fracking in the Santa Barbara Channel, and empower the Sable oil company to operate its failed pipeline in violation of state laws and court orders.
While our community continues to work to protect our coastal resources, economy, and community health from oil drilling, we are also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the California Coastal Act this year. This landmark law has protected public access to our beaches and safeguarded coastal habitats for half a century. Its steward, the California Coastal Commission, has ensured that California’s 1,100 miles of shoreline remains a shared public treasure rather than a private one.
Hands Across the Sand brings together environmental and democracy advocates because protecting our coast from offshore oil drilling and protecting our democracy go hand in hand. The Coastal Act itself began with voters, when Californians went to the polls in 1972 and chose to protect their coastline for everyone. That legacy is a reminder that our right to vote is one of the most powerful tools we have to shape our future.
