Opponents to offshore drilling are uniting worldwide, and with a novel twist in protest: simply holding hands.

The second annual “Hands Across the Sand” will be celebrated this Saturday, June 25, and at four different beachfront locations in South Carolina.

Interested persons in the greater Charleston area can simply take Folly Rd straight to Folly Beach, where the event will take place next to the pier.

In Myrtle Beach, participants can gather at Plyler Park at the end of Mr. Joe White Ave. Participants in N Myrtle Beach are requested to meet on the beach between Spanish Galleon and the Arcade.  The south end of Hilton Head Island, using Coligny Beach at the end of Pope Ave., is the fourth location in South Carolina.

Attendees should arrive at 11 a.m.; the joining of hands begins at 12 noon, and will last for 15 minutes.

“Hands Across the Sand” was created last year by Dave Rauschkolb in efforts to increase awareness of the risks of offshore drilling, and to promote clean energy alternates, too.

A beachfront restaurant owner and avid surfer, Rauschkolb founded “Hands Across the Sand” last year in protest to proposed offshore drilling off the coast of Florida, his home state.  He quickly gained support, as approximately 10,000 participated in last year’s event in Florida alone.  The protest was conducted worldwide, too.

His protest isn’t simply about the damage offshore drilling would do to his business or his hobby, though. And it’s not meant to be a declaration of personal political opinions.

“This movement is not about politics; it is about the protection of our coastal economies, oceans, marine wildlife and fisheries,” Rauschkolb says.  “The accidents that continue to happen in offshore oil drilling are a threat to all of the above. Expanding offshore oil drilling is not the answer, embracing Clean Energy is.

“Oil and coal are the largest polluters on the Earth threatening the quality of air we breathe, the water that we drink and the food that nourishes us,” Rauschkolb declares. “Safe food, clean water and clean air are the essential fundamental elements of our survival as a species. Offshore oil spills, the burning of fossil fuels and coal burning power plants present a threat to all of the above.”

The topic of Saturday’s demonstration is of high applicability in South Carolina.

In anticipation of removal of offshore drilling restrictions, in April a state senate panel passed measure directing the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee to improve the simplicity of drilling applications. 

A federal bill to expand offshore oil drilling failed to pass the U.S. senate last month, however, but is likely to be reintroduced.

Even if the federal bill remains stalled, South Carolina’s beaches would remain at risk to drilling for natural gas, however, which was included in the state bill. According to a study completed last year, deposits of natural gas could be obtained about 50-to-70 miles off the state’s coast.

How far offshore the drilling occurs is irrelevant, though, opponents say. As Rep. Jim Clyburn has stated at community gatherings with constituents, “they still need to bring it onshore,” leaving the same risk of coastal damage in the process.

According to the Southern Environmental Law Center, offshore drilling would not only be environmentally damaging – pollution, damage to wetlands and salt marshes – but it would be economically pointless, too.

Independent studies find that the crude oil potentially available from the entire Atlantic Coast would only produce six months’ worth of gasoline.  Natural gas extracted from the same region would only last 18 months, as well.

Any leaks or just the chemicals regularly used in operation on offshore drills would damage the fishing industry, too, SELC says.

Contact information for the hosts of each event can be obtained from the “Hands Across the Sand” website.

To date 39 states, Dist. of Columbia and Puerto Rico are scheduled to participate, as are 17 other countries across six different continents.

If anything is holding back environmental improvements to energy in the U.S., it could simply be that not enough folks know about them. 

For example, a recent study by Pike Research found that approval of renewable and alternate energies seems to improve with age and educational achievement.  

Americans widely support the concepts of renewable and reusable energy, especially those which are more well-known to the general public, according to Pike’s “Energy & Environment Consumer Survey.” 

Take solar energy, for example, which 79 percent of all Americans favor, the study found. Only 52 percent of adults without a completed high school education approve of solar energy, though, while 83 percent of those who attended graduate school do.  

Same thing goes for age; 71 percent of consumers under 30 years agree with solar power, but this approval reaches 86 percent for those aged 45 to 64.

While 75 percent of the overall population states approval of wind energy, another well-known alternate power source, only 50 percent of those who didn’t complete high school do, and only 65 percent of adults between 18 and 29 years of age regard it favorably.

While 64 percent approve of hybrid vehicles, which can be powered by both gasoline and non-polluting fuels, only 39 percent without a high school diploma approve. Seventy-two percent of those with education beyond a bachelor’s degree favor hybrids, though, and 68 percent of senior citizens like them compared to 61 percent of the under 30 group. 

And differences in educational achievement could have substantial impact on reception when it comes to electric cars, too. Only 43 percent of Americans with less than high school education approve of them, but 69 percent of those with graduate school educations do.

So are experience in life in general and education in particular relevant to environmental awareness?

Well … that remains just a strong possibility, says Pike Research analyst Bryan Davis, who explains that while the study may support that conclusion, it was not conducted with sole purpose to confirm it.

“That is a possible theory,” says Davis, “but there’s no way to confirm it from the survey data,” which breaks down information quantitatively by respondent demographics, but not fully qualitatively.

Also, there are particular enviro-friendly energy sources that are more well-known by younger Americans, Davis noted upon Pike’s blog.

For example, consider LEED; favorable reception of this “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design,” a rating system on home and building construction operated by the U.S. Green Building Council, is highest for those under the age of 30.

This LEED example could indicate that age of respondents is possibly interrelated to the youth of particular energy concepts. While the relatively-new LEED program is known best and respected most by younger Americans, energy sources of longer standing such as nuclear energy have highest favorable reception from seniors.

While this particular summation could indicate need for improved public knowledge of enviro-friendly energy sources, a general assessment of survey results might indicate this best: overall, an average of 21 percent of Americans admit unfamiliarity with alternate energy concepts. And, and Pike Research’s study alludes, those who are familiar widely approve of them.

By improving education of energy efficiency and environmental awareness, the consumer public could improve practice of these concepts, especially within the youth who will be tomorrow’s leaders.

Pike Research’s “Energy & Environment Consumer Survey” was released on February 7, and is available for download from its website.