Story and photo by Lily Jaquith
Western Washington University communications intern

A group of about 20 people joined hands for 15 minutes Saturday at Brackett’s Landing in Edmonds to affirm the importance of clean energy and increase awareness of the dangers of tar sands, a type of petroleum deposit.

The Edmonds “Hands Across the Sand” event was part of national movement, started two years ago, in which people hold hands on the beach at noon in each time zone.

“(Tar sands oil) comes down by pipeline from (British Columbia), by train and by tanker to the Puget Sound,” said event organizer and Edmonds resident Carl Voli. Several participants made an effort to educate those walking along the beach about the short- and long-term effects of tar sands and the coal-filled trains that run along the Edmonds waterfront on their way to Bellingham, for shipment to China.

Even as a train filled with coal rolled by, the clean-energy supporters continued to shout “clean land, clean sand!” ss they stood for 15 minutes facing the Puget Sound. A wide variety of people stood on the beach in support, including a pair of scuba divers who joined for a moment after going for a dive and a few children, who tagged along with their parents.