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.
Here's what to know
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."
Another speaker, 16-year-old community organizer and activist Ethan Maday, pushed back on the argument that because daily life still depends on petroleum-based products, society cannot transition away from oil.
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More background
The gathering brought together several overlapping concerns, including coastal protection and Indigenous stewardship.
Attendees used the milestone to argue that protecting the coast today means resisting another expansion of offshore oil infrastructure.
Maday made that point directly in his remarks.
"We still need oil today, and that sucks," he said. "We are trying to move away from that. That is why we're not investing in more offshore drilling — more gas and oil production. We're using common sense. It's pretty simple. We don't need to build more infrastructure for a dying industry. We have the technology to move away from oil and gas, and we need to start doing so while thinking of the workers that depend on that."
What's being done?
Additional speakers included Emily Engel of the Santa Barbara Sierra Club, Linda Krop of the Environmental Defense Center, and Meagan Harmon, who chairs the California Coastal Commission and serves on the Santa Barbara City Council.
Representatives from organizations including Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Surfrider Foundation, Get Oil Out!, League of Women Voters, Fearless Grandmothers, and 350 Santa Barbara also attended.
Public pressure can help determine whether leaders support more pollution-heavy development or invest in cleaner systems.
Where can I learn more?
For more on the global fight over nonrenewable energy development and coastal protection, these stories look at corporate accountability, legal battles, and damage to vulnerable shorelines.
• In Greece, Greenpeace activists challenged continued investment in damaging industry at a planned gas plant.
• In Montana, state officials moved to overturn young activists' monumental win over environmental policy.
• In Australia, Santos faced a world-first greenwashing trial over its claims about gas projects.
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