Local youth fight for climate change action

A group of high school students and other youth gathered at a Long Beach Unified School District board meeting to rally and publicly speak in support of a transition to 100% sustainable energy on Oct. 20.

Diana Michaelson is a 16-year-old junior at Long Beach Poly High that leads her peers in the Poly Green Schools Campaign. She and other students are committed to ensuring a sustainable future for current and future generations. Their objective is to get cooperation from the board of directors of the Long Beach Unified School District to take climate action and stop the use of fossil fuels. 

“We just want them to know that they can’t just continue to ignore our emails, because we’re going to come back. We will be here every two weeks; just so that they remember that we won’t go anywhere and they can expect to have ten of us speak at every board meeting and to have this continued pressure,” said Poly Green Schools Campaign Student leader, Diana Micahaelson.  

They also discussed their difficulties with board members, believing that their age is a factor in why they are not taken seriously. “When we first introduced our topic to them, we met them through Zoom and did our slide show. It was pretty much like–‘Oh, yeah climate change, it’s a big issue; I want to work with you!’  Only to not have follow-through,” continued Diana. 

“It’s a lot of ‘This is great’, but no accountability. There’s a lack of priority,” expressed by Poly Green Schools Campaign student member, Ruthie. 

For more information on the students’ mission to transition to 100% renewable energy visit here.

By: Dayna Hernandez