On October 24, the La Jolla Environmental Action Club joined 49 other California schools in walking out of school as part of the “Make Polluters Pay” campaign.
“Make Polluters Pay” is a campaign focused on holding fossil fuel companies accountable for their contributions to climate change. The walkout’s specific purpose was to protest in support of the California Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act of 2025. When asked about the walkout’s purpose, president of the La Jolla Environmental Action Club, Junior Victoria Olivares-Gonzales, said, “The purpose was to walk out in support of the Make Polluters Pay bill.” Democratic California State Senator Caroline Menjivar authored this act. If passed, the act will require fossil fuel polluters to “pay their fair share” of the damage caused by greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere between 1990 and 2024, inclusive. The act would also require the California Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a climate cost study to determine the damage amount from January 1, 1990, through December 31, 2045.
Olivares-Gonzales reflected on the walkout’s impact, saying, “…we got the attention of big oil like we wanted. But we also made a nationwide impact; some other states are now looking to push legislation like that in their own states.” When asked how she felt about the walkout, Nicole Zhuk, a freshman who attended the walkout, said, “I think that we were pretty successful, we got a lot of honks and a couple of cheers from the middle schoolers.” Only time will tell whether or not the act will pass.
