Hours after the Border 2 fire erupted on Otay Mountain in January, ash reached Hilltop High School in Chula Vista.
“That whole school day was like extremely, extremely bad for everyone,” said Maria Echevarria, a junior at Hilltop High. “Everyone had headaches. We saw the ash, kind of like rain and stuff.”
Wildfires, floods and heatwaves are becoming more common as climate change intensifies.
Oil, coal and gas companies that generate greenhouse gas emissions are driving climate change, Echevarria said.
But a state bill could hold industries financially accountable, the 16-year-old student added.
The Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act, co-authored by Assemblymember Chris Ward, D-San Diego, would require companies to pay for damages caused by greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, exacerbating climate-related events.
Echevarria is bringing attention to the bill, which is stalled in state committees. With guidance from environmental groups like SanDiego350 and Youth v. Oil, she and several other San Diego County students helped organize a statewide walkout to urge lawmakers to pass it.
Middle and high school students at more than four dozen schools across California were set to walk out of their classrooms on Friday. Young climate activists from 19 schools in San Diego County signed up to participate.
Among them was Kaylee Tichenor, a student at University City High School. She and several dozen schoolmates held signs that read, “Vote 4 our planet. Vote 4 our future,” and
“Take action, our planet is dying,” as they walked along Genesee Avenue.
“We're showing our leaders that youth are paying attention and we care, and we will not stay silent while our future is on the line,” Tichenor said.
New York passed a similar polluters pay law last year. Tichenor said youth advocacy had an impact on its approval.
“Youth did a movement like we're doing here today,” she added. “And that was the last push that made the bill pass. So, that's what we're looking for to happen in California.”
A report by UNICEF, released in January, showed that climate change had disrupted schooling for more than 200 million children around the world in 2024.
San Diego County schools are no strangers to these events.
Following the devastating January 2024 floods, La Mesa-Spring Valley School District sustained about $10 million in costs for repairs, the temporary relocation of a school and for staff time, officials said. Coronado Unified School District’s damages totaled $2.8 million as a result of the record-breaking storm, a spokesperson said.
If the proposal is approved, funds would be allocated to cover community disaster preparedness and recovery plans, such as emergency housing and evacuation plans. Money from the superfund could also be used for green projects, like zero-emission transportation, and restorative ones, such as preserving forests and grasslands.
Oil companies and industry lobbyists have expressed opposition to the state bill, arguing that such a fund could increase energy prices.
The Western States Petroleum Association, one of the bill’s opponents, said in a statement that the superfund law is “misguided” and would “retroactively punish companies for providing a legal product that was, and remains, critical to our state's economy.”
