By SARA G. MARTI | Contributing Writer
Despite gray skies, steady drizzle and rain-related evacuation warnings, students from Palisades Charter and Santa Monica high schools gathered at the entrance of the Santa Monica Pier on Friday afternoon, November 14, for a youth-led strike urging state leaders to advance SB 684 and AB 1243, parallel California bills known as the “Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act.”
During the strike, several students held QR-coded flyers linking to a petition supporting AB 1243 and SB 684, legislation that would require “the largest fossil fuel polluters,” according to SB 684 author Senator Caroline Menjivar, to fund climate recovery and adaptation efforts.
The rally was part of a coordinated Global Climate Strike aligned with Fridays for Future and the U.N. COP30 Climate Summit taking place in Brazil, with students across the world participating at the same time.
Marching across the intersection at Colorado Avenue and Ocean Avenue, the students held handmade signs. Dozens of signs included messages such as “Our Planet Is Worth More Than Oil Company Profits,” “Save Our Planet Save Ourselves,” and “Kill Pollution or It Will Kill Us.” Several students held bilingual banners calling on legislators to pass the bill, with one sign reading “Aprobar la Ley Contaminadores Paguen.”
Large printed banners with the words “Look Listen Decide: Break Free from Fossil Fuels” framed the crowd at the blue archway marking the entrance to the pier. One protester held a sign with a dinosaur graphic that read “Stop Burnin‘ Our Bones.”
Students from both schools took turns speaking through megaphones, their voices carrying over the traffic and the sound of surf. Speakers included Pali High junior Anna Ghaemi, SaMo High senior Mark Schneeman, Pali High senior Maria Knierim and SaMo High senior Eugene Naruse.
Ghaemi explained that the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act was written to shift the financial burden away from taxpayers and onto corporations.
Knierim, who lost her home in the Palisades fire and is now preparing to move for the seventh time since January, described barely escaping with her family and watching her neighborhood disappear.
“This is a crucial moment for youth climate activists across town and across the globe to unite together and demand change,” Knierim said. “We call on the Santa Monica City Council, Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur and every municipality in Los Angeles County to publicly endorse this bill. Our future is at stake.”
The demonstration drew support from adult allies such as Resilient Palisades, Climate Action Santa Monica, Third Act SoCal, Peace and Climate Justice and Fridays for Future, whose members helped amplify the students’ voices.
Several of the student-made banners carried an added layer of meaning: One was painted with pigments made from ash and charcoal collected after the January fires. Some of the ash came from the homes of Resilient Palisades members Sara G. Marti and Aleksandar Pavlović, who, like thousands more, lost all of their belongings.
Organizers said they intend to continue gathering signatures, and are encouraging city officials and state representatives to publicly support the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act.
The legislation faces a California Assembly committee vote in January.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
