Motueka hands across the sands

Around 130 people joined hands on Saturday June 25 on the beach at Motueka Quay insupport of phasing out fossil fuels. The symbolic action of joining hands, and literally drawing a line in the sand, occurred simultaneously in Nelson, Motueka and Golden Bay. There were over 100 people on Pohara beach in Golden Bay and over 140 people at Tahunanui beach in Nelson. This series of regionally organised actions were the first in a series of seven across New Zealand and hundreds of international events globally. ‘Hands Across The Sand’ is an international movement of people calling for Governments and industry to abandon their fossil fuel agendas.

Pohara beach. Golden Bay

On his recent tour of New Zealand, Dr James Hansen, top NASA climate scientist stated “coal emissions must be phased out as rapidly as possible or global climate disasters will be a dead certainty. ‘Clean coal’ technology does not exist and carbon capture is not economically feasible. Developed countries will need to complete their coal phase-out by about 2020, if global phase-out of coal is to be achieved by 2030. If coal emissions are phased out this rapidly— a tall order, but a feasible one— the climate problem is solvable.”Dr Hansen has warned, “Coal is the single greatest threat to civilization and all life on our planet.”

Nelson

Coal Action Network Aotearoa spokesperson for top of the south, Helen Tulett, spoke at the Motueka ‘Hands Across The Sand’ event, ”the turnout today is very inspiring, 70 people came to hear Jeanette Fitzsimons speak on Southland Lignite developments at a meeting on Monday, and to have double that participating today in the international call for a renewable energy future, sends a strong message to Government and industry that New Zealand must leave the coal in the hole”.

Banner in Nelson

Hands Across the Sand http://www.handsacrossthesand.com/

Dr James Hansen quote from: http://www.stormsofmygrandchildren.com/climate_catastrophe_solutions.html

Motueka banner

Pohara beach