Students from Pali and Santa Monica High School (Samohi) gathered at Pali High on Jan. 24 to present a climate change panel. Sponsored by Fridays for Future (FFF), the event featured student speakers from both schools who joined voices to send this message: “Make Polluters Pay.”

Students on the panel spoke about evacuation orders, watching homes burn and post-fire struggles—all in an effort to highlight the real-world effects of the ongoing climate crisis.

Key speakers at the event included senior Mark Schneeman, a former Pali student now attending Samohi and senior Sam Salser-Myers from Pali. More than two dozen people attended the event, along with an international audience through a live broadcast.

Schneeman reflected on the role that climate change played in the Palisades Fire, which ignited on Jan. 7, 2025, lasted 25 days and consumed more than 23,000 acres—making it the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history.  

“Global warming and climate change really affect the rate at which the fire spreads,” Schneeman said. “We had abnormal weather conditions in the years leading up to the fire, which ended up making a lot of very flammable dry brush. The fire was burning for more than a day before it actually started spreading.”

After losing his home in the fire, Salser-Myers explained how his personal experience prompted him to become more active in raising awareness of the effects of climate change.

“Seeing the potential for rebuilding and growth in the wake of such a tragic event really inspired me to step up and start getting involved,” Salser-Myers said. 

Pali junior Anna Ghaemi, who also participated in the panel, added, “when you experience something like that, you get a lot more motivated to step up and do something.”

The panel marked the second occasion in the span of three months that environmental activists from Pali and Samohi teamed up to raise awareness on the growing climate emergency. 

Previously in November 2025, Pali students partnered with students from Samohi to hold a climate protest in front of the Santa Monica Pier, again with the support of FFF, a global youth climate movement initiated by youth activist Greta Thunberg that pushes for environmental action. 

During that protest, students advocated for a petition titled “Make Polluters Pay,” demanding that fossil fuel companies be held financially responsible for the environmental degradation they cause. With continued assistance from FFF, students organized the January panel focusing on the same issue, turning what was once grief into action.

“Fridays for Future contacted us and said, we want to support you guys,” said Steve Engelmann, a Pali High Environmental Science teacher who helped facilitate the collaboration between Pali and Samohi students. “After [the November protest], in collaboration with, FFF, they said: ‘We want to do a global live stream.’”

Reflecting on her recent environmental activism, Ghaemi touched on the panel’s driving slogan: “Make Polluters Pay.”

“For us, it means to make the people who caused the situation reimburse us, take accountability and help us,” Ghaemi said.  

Engelmann echoed similar sentiments regarding the slogan, noting how the impacted communities bear the biggest burden in the aftermath.

“Who’s paying for the damage? It’s mostly us, our insurance companies, or our government who come in; that’s our tax dollars,” Engelmann said. “The idea is, if you make a mess, you should clean it up and not have someone else clean it up for you.”

Engelmann expanded on why student voices matter, explaining how “the kids haven’t done anything to cause the situation we’re in, but they’re the ones who are going to have to deal with the consequences for basically the rest of their lives.”

The reality of climate change inspired outside action from students like Salser-Myers, who segwayed into how they, young students themselves, are already educating younger generations on the importance of forestry. He began an organization called ‘TREAMS,’ a portmanteau for tree dreams, in which they partner with elementary and middle schools. 

“We help younger kids learn how to replant trees and just get excited about the process of it,” Salser-Myers said. “Teachers, especially in environmental classes, can educate their students about these issues and what their students can do.”

Schneeman added, “It’s important that we all come together and make a difference as one unit.”