Be Part of the Solution

Hands Across the Sand is a global call, saying NO to dirty fossil fuels and YES to reducing energy waste, energy efficiency, and clean energy that is developed reasonably and responsibly. Scientists are clear: the age of fossil fuels must come to an end to prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Energy efficiency, energy waste reduction, solar, wind, energy storage, and electrification of transportation are technologies we stand behind and are calling on policy makers to encourage.

Clean Energy Solutions

We don’t have to drill our way to energy independence—in fact, we can’t! What we can do is support clean domestic energy solutions to meet our energy needs with our own resources and our own people. To replace offshore drilling, we must mitigate our need for oil as a transportation fuel and for natural gas as a heating and electricity fuel. The first thing we should do is reduce the energy we use. Second, we must use the energy we create more efficiently. This will go a long way in helping us to lessen our need for more energy. Meeting our remaining energy needs with renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and biomass will allow us to power the future with little dependence on fossil fuels. Reasonable and responsible renewable energy can provide us with the energy we need cleanly, cheaply, and indefinitely.

Get off Oil with Better Transportation

The vast majority of the oil we drill offshore goes toward transportation fuel for cars, trucks, ships, and planes. In order to reduce our dependence on oil, we must rethink how we do transportation. A few ways we can do this are through better vehicle efficiency, fleet electrification, switching to biofuels, and changing driving behavior. Vehicle efficiency—or getting more miles per gallon—can be easily achieved by a variety of methods and thanks to CAFE Standards, cars and light trucks will be getting 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 and saving billions of dollars in fuel costs. Electric vehicles have made big progress in the past few years and show significant promise in getting us off oil. Estimates are that tens of thousands of electric cars will be sold in the U.S. this year and hundreds of thousands will be sold around the world. Electric cars need no oil and can be fueled by clean renewable electricity sources instead. Using biofuels such as biodiesel or ethanol is another way of kicking the oil habit. Ethanol has gotten a bad reputation in recent years due to bad policy, but with the right policies in place, ethanol technology could be a huge energy asset. Finally, driving behavior can be changed so that we use less oil. Driving less by combining trips, carpooling, taking public transit, or biking or even things like accelerating more gradually can dramatically cut our need for oil and also make for a better quality of life.

Learn more about better transportation and how you can get involved:

• Why is Fuel Economy Important? – FuelEconomy.gov
• Gas Mileage Tips – FuelEconomy.gov
• Learn About Biofuels – Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
• Purchasing a Greener Vehicle – Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

 Get off Natural Gas with Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

 Offshore drilling isn’t just about oil—lots of the drilling is for natural gas too, which is used for heating and electricity production. Energy efficiency, reducing energy waste, and renewable energies such as wind and solar pave a clear path reducing our need for offshore gas.

Reducing Energy Waste

The U.S. leads the world in wasting energy, with nearly 60% of the energy generated lost during transmission. The cheapest, fastest, easiest, and GREENEST energy of all is the energy people do not use, and it can save people money while reducing our demand for energy of all types. 

Energy Efficiency

Simple efficiency measures for residences, and commercial and industrial facilities can greatly reduce the amount of energy we need and also lower our bills. Lower bills keep more of our money within our own communities and furthermore, implementing energy efficiency has been shown to create more jobs than does producing additional energy.

Learn more about energy efficiency and how you can get involved:

• Southern Alliance for Clean Energy – Learn About Energy Efficiency
• Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy – Energy Efficiency
• ICLEI-USA – Energy Efficiency

 Renewable Energy

Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar provide us the means to produce heat and electricity

Wind energy harvests the wind’s power and turns it into electricity. 

Solar energy is the most abundant energy source on earth! Solar energy doesn’t use any fuel or water and therefore it also isn’t subject to fuel price increases or production dips due to drought. Contrary to outdated rumors, rooftop solar electricity production is not only feasible, but also often economic. Solar is a smart way to heat your water too. Solar hot water systems take advantage of the sun to give you hot water for domestic use, space heating, or pool heating.

While renewable energy technology is constantly improving, we already have most of the technology we need to transition to a reasonable and responsible clean energy economy. The time is now to demand clean energy solutions!

Learn more about renewable energy and how you can get involved:

• Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Program Areas
• Department of Energy –Renewable Energy
• ICLEI-USA – Clean Energy Types

The Coastal Connection

Opposing offshore drilling sends the message to political leaders and business interests that we don’t want to spoil our waters and beaches with oil or gas. Say “yes!” to reducing energy waste during transmission, more efficient usage of the energy that does reach us, and responsibly developed renewable energy to protect our coasts!