Lead, arsenic and mercury permeate the air as neighborhood temperatures set the city’s record high. For millions of Americans living near commercial facilities and hazardous waste sites, toxic pollution poses a major threat to the overall health of their community.

Minority and low-income neighborhoods continue to be disproportionately targeted by the impacts of the climate crisis, with African Americans 75 percent more likely to live near these sites. In efforts to reduce these disparities and to promote the greater climate action movement, student activists from across Massachusetts meet virtually every month to brainstorm, take action and create change within the state.

The Massachusetts Schools Climate Action Network (MSCAN) provides a platform for Massachusetts public school climate clubs to hold discussions on environmental sustainability and to initiate projects that make a state-level impact through governmental and administrative work. Student leaders within MSCAN take initiative by managing the lessons and facilitating the conversations.

Atlas Noubir, a senior and key member of the high school’s Climate Justice Club, said MSCAN gives power to the network team by allowing him and his peers to tackle administrational issues together.

“We often run into similar issues with administration when trying to get their attention or approval, so we share solutions to help each other out,” Noubir said. “Also, a lot of times, politicians and administrators—even if they are opposed to the actions we want to take—will listen to us because they find the group to be inspiring.”

Senior Alice MacGarvie Thomspon has been a leader of the Climate Justice Club for three years alongside Noubir and said the commitment and unity of MSCAN members amplify their advocacy efforts.

“I feel like a lot of people in MSCAN are really passionate about their climate justice work—not only in their communities, but they really want their work to be shown at the state-level,” Thompson said. “The way we think about it is that we’re each very motivated to work on this, but we’re much more powerful combined.”

Currently, MSCAN lacks Eastern Massachusetts representation, so the climate team hopes to see more students from Boston Public Schools take part in the network in the near future. Sophomore and first-year member of MSCAN Suvi Carlile said that the group is always open to new members and ideas.

“We’re definitely trying to get more people to join,” Carlile said. “Within the team, everyone gets a voice, everybody gets to take part in planning the agendas and everybody can suggest their ideas.”

Outside of expanding their group, MSCAN members are trying to achieve more transparency within the town government, are promoting plant-based foods within schools and are working to pass housing legislation. Noubir, a critical member of the housing committee on MSCAN, said that the climate crisis disproportionately impacts lower-class neighborhoods and that the team has recently found success in promoting affordable housing.

“We passed a piece of legislation in Brookline that will get a subcommittee of the town to study the use of the affordable housing overlay district—a tool that will hopefully create more affordable housing in Brookline,” Noubir said.

Noubir hopes to continue his work at the intersection between climate and housing justice even after his time on MSCAN. He is looking to join the affordable housing subcommittee of Brookline, which he would serve on for the upcoming few years.

“I think MSCAN has really influenced the person I am now because it’s shaped the way I approach the world. I’ve become more politically aware and I’ve been exposed to other progressive organizations,” Noubir said. “Joining these groups set me down a specific path of valuing social justice at the intersection of other issues. I think I’ll carry that perspective with me after I graduate and get involved in climate programs in college too.”