Diesel exhaust is a known carcinogen that causes numerous health problems, including lung cancer, asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia. It’s frightening to think about the damage diesel pollution has inflicted on the lungs of the millions of American children who take buses to school every day.
By accelerating the transition to electric school buses, the United States is taking a serious step to protect children’s health and address the climate crisis. Transportation is the number one source of climate-harming carbon emissions in the United States. Replacing our fossil-fuel powered buses with electric models will significantly reduce carbon pollution, helping to mitigate climate change.
The passage of this bill is a major milestone in the campaign for electric buses. When the first electric school bus in the United States rolled out in Kings Canyon Unified School District in Central California in 2014, the nationwide transition to electric buses seemed like a pipe dream. But now, only seven years later, kids from Florida to North Dakota are getting a clean ride to school, and the federal government is funding thousands more buses across the country.
PIRG, Environment America and our state groups have worked tirelessly for the past several years to bring the benefits of electric buses to the attention of the public and decision-makers. Since we published our first report on the subject, PIRG has become a leading authority on the issue.
We’ve published case studies of the first cities and school districts to adopt electric buses, an analysis of how states used the money from the Volkswagen emissions settlement to fund clean transportation, and a guide for how schools and cities can finance their transitions. Beyond educating and informing the public with that research, we’ve connected manufacturers, utilities, school districts, policymakers and transit workers through webinars and other events.