Teens march through downtown Oakland, call for companies to pay for pollution

DOZENS OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS walked out of their classrooms in downtown Oakland on Friday morning before marching through the streets, chanting and demanding that large corporations take responsibility for their contributions to climate change. 

The young people were a part of a wider planned effort across several Bay Area cities to call for the passage of Senate Bill 684, also known as the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act of 2025, which would require companies to pay into a statewide fund for their climate footprint that would then be used for environmental projects.