On Earth Day 2025, over 50 high school students joined together at the state Capitol for a day of hope, advocacy training, and climate action. Organized by Sunrise Movement Connecticut and Save the Sound, today’s Youth Advocacy Day event gave young people a platform to make their voices heard in the legislative process. The event included a press conference, advocacy training, and time for participants to meet with legislators.
The event featured speakers who delivered passionate calls for the Connecticut General Assembly to advance critical climate legislation currently moving through the legislature, and opportunities for youth to engage with U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, State Representative John Michael Parker, State Representative Anne Hughes, State Representative Hector Arzeno, and State Representative Laurie Sweet.
In kicking off the press conference, Maebel Haynes, director of Sunrise Movement Connecticut, said: “Youth voices are constantly ignored especially with regard to environmental issues. We’ve gathered to create a space for those voices to be shared and heard.”
Youth advocates expressed support for HB 5004, An Act Concerning the Protection of the Environment and Development of Renewable Energy Sources and Associated Job Sectors. Speakers also addressed their support for SB 1243, An Act Concerning Bus Public Transportation Services for Veterans and High School Students.
“HB 5004, the climate bill is essential to us as youth because the climate crisis endangers our future. Our legislators disappointed us last year by failing to bring the bill up for a vote in the senate. We want our legislators to know that the climate crisis must be taken seriously and addressed immediately, and we are hopeful that our advocacy will help move HB 5004 forward,” said Ashen Harper, a high school senior at Stamford High School and lead organizer of Fridays for Future Stamford. Harper added, “In Stamford, only students living at least two miles from their high school receive a school bus, which excludes almost every single low- or moderate-income area. This means most low-income students are paying just to get a ride to school, relying on the public bus for their education. Although I am not in this situation, I personally rely on the public bus to get home from work and after-school activities. For high school students, the bus is our key to accessing not only opportunities like work and afterschool activities, but for some, education itself. This is why we need SB 1243 to make buses free for the high school students in districts that rely on them.”
The press conference also featured remarks from two graduates of last year’s inaugural class of the Environmental Justice Ambassadors program created by Save the Sound and Junta for Progressive Action.
“As a high school student and Environmental Justice Youth Ambassador, I believe these bills represent more than just policy—they are a blueprint for the equitable, sustainable future my generation is demanding,” said Environmental Justice Ambassador Melissa Bernal. “HB 5004 places environmental justice at the forefront by directing resources and implementing solutions in communities that have long been disproportionately impacted by pollution and climate neglect. This bill makes sure that the transition to clean energy benefits everyone and is fair, inclusive, and within reach for all communities. SB 1243 complements this vision by removing financial barriers to public transportation for high school students and veterans, recognizing that access to mobility is foundational to education, economic opportunity, and civic participation. At the same time, it tackles transportation-related emissions—Connecticut’s largest source of pollution—and helps clean the air in already overburdened regions. Together, these bills embody climate justice in action: they are bold, transformative, and essential to protecting both our planet and the potential of every young person growing up in it.”
“We deserve to breathe clean air and live in a place where it is not difficult to breathe. And it’s not just about the decision that’s going to be made here today, it’s also about everyone starting to care about our future and starting to act,” said Environmental Justice Ambassador Melissa Rodriguez. “I have decided that I want a future with renewable energy and a future in which my family and people close to me will not have respiratory diseases and complications due to air pollution.”
Oluwaseyi “Shay” Oluborode, a high school junior and leader of University High School of Science and Engineering’s Social Justice League, stated “SB 1243 is not just a transit measure—it’s a strategic investment in Connecticut’s future. By removing fare barriers for public high school students and veterans, the state can increase educational outcomes, support workforce participation, and build a healthier, more connected, and more equitable society.”
Fellow speakers also called for the end of fossil fueled infrastructure expansion, specifically calling out proposed projects that would impact Brookfield, Coventry, Hartford, and Mansfield.
“Even as the climate crisis accelerates, Connecticut continues to allow the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure to move forward. This includes the Capitol Area heating and cooling system in Hartford, the new proposed compressor station in Brookfield, and the proposed expansion of the Enbridge pipeline. As a young person, watching our state fail to stand up to these expansions feels like watching my future be taken away. This must change—our state needs real climate action now,” said Sena Wazer, master’s student at Yale School of the Environment and Intern with Sierra Club Connecticut.
“As a young person in Coventry, CT, we cannot continue to expand fossil fuel infrastructure that directly impacts the health of my family and community. A new metering and regulation station was approved in my town locking us into decades more of methane pollution and climate inaction. We must Stop Project Maple and invest in a sustainable future now rather than disregarding the future of young people,” said Sydney Collins, a Coventry-based climate activist and member of Sunrise New Haven.
The event concluded with a civics training empowering youth to use their voices in policy advocacy, and meetings with several legislators including U.S. Senator Blumenthal, State Representative John Michael Parker, State Representative Laurie Sweet, State Representative Hector Arzeno, and State Representative Anne Hughes.
Sunrise Movement Connecticut is a youth-led organization focused on stopping climate change, ensuring environmental justice, and creating thousands of good jobs in the process. We mobilize youth across our state to demand climate action at the scale we need by lobbying elected officials for equitable policy changes, organizing strikes and other direct actions, campaigning for climate champions, and partnering with community-based organizations at the intersections of environmental and social justice.
The mission of Save the Sound is to protect and improve the land, air, and water of the whole Long Island Sound region. We use legal and scientific expertise and bring people together to achieve results that benefit our environment for current and future generations.
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