Student activists in Montgomery County have a list of demands for school leaders: they want schools to stop using fossil fuels for heating and other energy needs, and start to ramp up the transition to renewables like solar and wind.

“We want to ensure that while our schools are educating us, that we have a future to be educated on,” said Janani Krishnamurthy, a sophomore at Wootton High School in Rockville. “We definitely cannot learn on a dead planet.”

Students are circulating a petition online, calling on Montgomery County Public Schools to “get serious about climate change.”

“It is time for MCPS to start treating climate change as the crisis it is,” reads the petition, which as garnered more than 420 signatures so far.

The petition asks MCPS to:

• Purchase only 100% renewable electricity to power school buildings.
• Stop installing fossil-fuel equipment in new buildings (meaning no natural gas furnaces or water heaters).
• Retrofit old buildings, replacing natural gas equipment with electric, and upgrading energy efficiency.
• Install solar panels at every school by 2027.
• Hire from low-income Montgomery County communities and provide good wages for all MCPS work related to climate and clean energy.

MCPS is currently in the process of updating its sustainability plan to put it in line with the county’s aggressive climate goals. County lawmakers declared a climate emergency in 2017, and set the targets of cutting carbon emissions by 80% by 2027 and reaching zero carbon emissions by 2035 — among the most ambitious timeframes of any jurisdiction in the U.S.

MCPS’s new draft sustainability policy adopts those emissions reductions goals. But student activists say it lacks specifics and shies away from concrete actions.

Activists say that the public school system is far behind the rest of the county government in embracing clean energy: Since 2016, all county buildings, except schools, have purchased 100% of electricity from wind sources. MCPS, on the other hand, purchases only 38% renewable energy.

Out of 209 MCPS schools, just 17 currently have solar panels.

“It’s definitely not enough,” said Krishnamurthy. She said she has previously protested for human rights and equality issues, and sees the battle against climate change as a fight for climate justice.

According to the petition, MCPS is failing students by not acting more quickly to reduce emissions. “MCPS’ inaction actively hurts their students, especially students of color and low-income students,” reads the petition. “Through MCPS’ continued use of fossil fuels and their inertia and resistance to any positive change, they endanger the young people whom they have committed to educating.”

Students at seven MCPS high schools held protests to draw attention to the issue recently, with signs and banners reading “Fossil free schools now,” and “Can’t learn on a dead planet.”

The protests and petition were organized by activists with the local Sunrise Movement group and the Montgomery County Green New Deal Internship.

A spokesperson for MCPS did not respond to a request for comment.