California students walk out to support Make Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act

Sacramento — Students in California and around the nation and world are extremely concerned with what the future holds for them, considering the increasing toll that Big Oil-induced climate disasters are having around the globe. 

On October 24, thousands of youth from 50 middle schools, high schools, and colleges in California walked out of class in a coordinated statewide action demanding that oil and gas corporations be held financially accountable for the damage caused by their pollution.  

Dozens of Sacramento students participated in this statewide day of action to call for lawmakers to pass the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act, AB 1243 and SB 684. The bill wasn’t able to muster the votes this legislative session to pass it, but the students and climate justice advocates are hoping that the Legislature will pass it next year. 

Arrayed in bright red shirts emblazoned with "Make Polluters Pay," students from McClatchy High School in Sacramento walked out of school and took light rail to the Capitol where they sent a clear message that California’s young people refuse to let Big Oil write the rules of their future.

After a short rally with speakers and chants near the corner of L and 15th streets, they held a 2-minute "die in" at the Capitol Rose Garden to illustrate the tremendous harm climate chaos is causing around the planet.

Students and organizers spoke about the toll that climate disasters in California and throughout the world are taking on schools, learning, and the next generation’s future. They all urged their legislator, Senator Angelique Ashby, to support the bill.  

“Climate change affects everyone, and most of all us, the youth,” said Isabel Neff and Eowyn Jordan, students at McClatchy High School. “This is the planet that we are inheriting. We are the ones who will be cleaning up this mess and today we are demanding that this cleanup starts now by making polluters pay. Our future and our planet are at stake, and we refuse to stand by and watch them burn.”

The students spoke out on how climate change is no longer just a background issue for schools, since it’s shutting down classrooms, displacing students, and draining already-strained district budgets.

For example, the disastrous 2018 Camp Fire took nearly a million California students out of school. And Hurricane Helene kept 76,000 North Carolina students home for more than a month.

Nationwide, nearly 4 million students now attend schools in the highest-risk flood zones. Instead of asking teachers, families, and taxpayers to carry those costs, youth are demanding that the companies most responsible for climate damage finally pay their fair share.

The Climate Superfund could raise over $150 billion from the biggest polluters — without raising taxes on families — and invest it directly into resilient schools, safe infrastructure, and clean energy jobs that protect our future, according to advocates.

Members of Third Act Sacramento and 350 Sacramento were there at the capitol holding signs and banners and drumming in support of the youth.

The events were organized by youth climate groups and advocacy organizations, including Food and Water Watch, 350Sacramento, Sunrise Los Angeles, Sunrise Orange County, Youth v. Oil, and SanDiego350 in partnership with the Make Polluters Pay campaign. The events spanned the state — with major events in Sacramento, San Diego, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles.

“Many of our students live in communities that are constant targets of environmental pollution caused by major polluters," said Keila Murillo, the student organizer at East LA College. "We’re demanding that these corporations pay their fair share for the damages they’ve caused. We’re making our voices heard and letting legislators know that we’re watching and that we care about environmental justice."