In a passionate address to the Palo Alto City Council on Monday, seven members of the Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition presented a list of policies aimed at tackling the city’s climate goals, urging the council to recommit to bolder climate action and overcome challenges hindering progress.
“Together in solidarity, we are urging you to recommit yourself to climate this Earth Day,” PASCC executive director and Castilleja senior Julia Zeitlin said. “From this day forward, we are urging you to move with greater urgency, intensity and dedication to sustainability.”
The student group, comprised of representatives from Castilleja, Gunn and Paly, aims to engage youth in climate advocacy and push local government to prioritize climate goals. Last Friday, the PASCC led Palo Alto’s annual Earth Day Rally at City Hall, where students heard from guest speakers such as former 2024 congressional candidate Joby Bernstein.
The PASCC’s proposal outlined three major obstacles in the face of commitment to climate goals: funding, grid readiness and reliability and termination of Palo Alto’s all-electric reach code, a set of guidelines prohibiting the installation of gas appliances in new construction.
“These challenges are daunting, but we can’t just put up our hands and leave the rest to the Office of Sustainability,” Zeitlin said. “We know and hope that the council can do more.”
To overcome these key challenges, the PASCC urged council members to set a concrete timeline for the implementation of energy efficiency building codes that establish electric-ready requirements for new homes, approve an end-of-life mandate for furnaces and water heaters by 2026, create new bike lanes and increase e-bike publicity.
While acknowledging Palo Alto’s existing climate efforts, the PASCC stressed the importance of resilience in the face of potential legal challenges from the fossil fuel industry.
“We cannot be afraid of big litigation and big oil-funded lawsuits,” PASCC member and Gunn High School junior Phoebe Mota-Judges said. “More opposition and more lawsuits are headed our way. We cannot back down. We need to show that we’re strong and that we can fight back.”
Concluding the presentation, Mota-Judges commended the council for their climate activism, but reiterated the urgency of PASCC’s recommendations to the council.
“These actions will demonstrate our commitment to addressing the pressing issues of climate change and ensuring a more sustainable future for generations to come,” Mota-Judges said.
