This originally was published on WRI.
The past year has been all about protecting ourselves and our children from a serious respiratory illness: COVID-19.
But as schools reopen and children return to in-person classrooms, many kids will spend part of every day in a toxic environment that causes harm to young lungs and minds: diesel-powered school buses. Nearly all of the approximately 480,000 iconic big yellow buses in the United States are exclusively fueled by diesel and produce diesel exhaust, a known carcinogen.
This doesn’t need to happen. Clean electric school buses already successfully transport kids in a handful of school districts. We can and should deploy electric school buses across the nation.
Dems push $25B for electric school buses, a Biden priority - Santa Monica Daily Press smdp.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from smdp.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
NGT News
April 23, 2021
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and Rep. Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif., and Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., have introduced the Clean Commute for Kids Act to transition the nation’s school bus fleet to zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) and protect children’s health.
The bicameral legislation would invest $25 billion to replace existing diesel buses with electric buses. On a typical day before the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 25 million American children are exposed to air pollution when they ride over 500,000 predominantly diesel buses to school.
“Providing a quality education for children starts before they even arrive at school,” says Padilla. “I know firsthand how outdated diesel school buses expose our young people to harmful pollution. Children in working-class communities – like the one I grew up in – face higher rates of asthma and respiratory issues, which have a direct impact on their ability to learn. Tr
WASHINGTON Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday unveiled legislation that would invest $25 billion to convert the nation’s fleet of gasoline- and diesel-powered school buses to electric vehicles, aiming at a component of President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan to improve children’s health.
The legislation led by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., seeks to build on the administration’s effort this week to promote the electrification of school buses, which Biden sees as an important step in addressing climate change and economic inequities.
School buses make up 90% of the nation’s total bus fleet and typically carry nearly 25 million children each day. Emissions from diesel engines may contribute to respiratory illnesses in children, studies have found, and have been linked to poor academic performance.
President Biden Says Electric-Powered School Buses Are Priority gator995.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gator995.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.