Beach Users Show Off a 'Mexican Wave' of Support for Wave Hub Project

A group of sombrero and poncho wearing 'Mexican wavers' from Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) showed off their support for the Wave Hub renewable energy project by carrying out a beach based action in St Ives Bay on World Environment Day.

Joined by PROJECTBASE artists and members of the public a 'Mexican wave' peeled off down the stretch of beach known as Mexico's between Gwithian and Hayle river mouth.

This action centres around SAS's campaign for clean, safe, renewable energy. By replacing traditional power stations with devices that can harness offshore wind, wave and tidal power, carbon dioxide emissions (responsible for climate change) can be reduced. By investing in such technology now, we can take the first steps to a more sustainable world. Without such developments we are likely to see an increase in extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and storms and a rise in global sea levels. This would be devastating for many coastal areas around the world and could result in severely reduced water quality for many recreational water users, due to an increase in the occurrence of sewer overflows caused by heavy rain. The Wave Hub project would be a world first if its consents are granted and should be in place by late 2007. Cornwall is now poised to be world leaders in the wave energy industry.

SAS Campaigner Andy Cummins says: “Renewable Energy projects, such as Wave Hub are urgently needed to get us moving forward in tackling climate change. There is no denying climate change is happening and could have a significant impact in the way we live our lives in the southwest. We cannot afford to wait any longer before we try to reduce our CO2 emissions and its with that in mind that projects like Wave Hub need fast tracking to fully assess their potential in tackling climate change and in meeting our future energy needs. It would be fantastic to see Cornwall harness the power from waves to produce clean and safe energy in the same we have used it to generate healthy active lifestyles from surfing and other watersports that are so popular right now”.

See the film of this campaign action here.

PROJECTBASE and artist Regina Möller are pleased to support SAS in their 'Mexican Wave' action.

PROJECTBASE is a contemporary visual arts organisation working with artists on the production and presentation of socially-engaging, interdisciplinary and temporary projects of national and international significance.

www.projectbase.org.uk

A new visual art project will take place in 2007. Please join our mailing list by sending your details to info@projectbase.org.uk for further updates.

Back