CONTACT: Sasha Tenenbaum
Senior Manager, Media and Public Engagement
stenenbaum@momscleanairforce.org
(917) 887-0146
Washington, DC—Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the recipients of the first round of funding distributed by the Clean School Bus Program, a $5-billion, 5-year investment in clean school buses for our nation’s children as allocated under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Law passed by Congress in 2021.
In response, Moms Clean Air Force Public Health Policy Director Molly Rauch issued the following statement:
“Electric school buses are rolling your way! School districts in every state and the District of Columbia have been awarded federal funding for clean, electric school buses. Moms and dads celebrate this great news for our kids and our climate.
“Today’s announcement from EPA is the result of years of advocacy from members of Moms Clean Air Force and other allies dedicated to securing funding for a safe ride for our kids. Moms Clean Air Force worked tirelessly to connect that funding with school districts across the country, educating them about the importance of replacing dirty diesel buses with zero-tailpipe-pollution electric buses. Moms Clean Air Force helped districts through the application process.
“School response has been so great that the EPA has nearly doubled the funding to meet soaring demand. EPA had planned to award $500 million in rebates from the Clean School Bus Program this year. Today’s announcement indicates EPA is awarding $965 million to purchase 2,463 buses, 95% of which will be electric (as opposed to propane/gas).
“Every day, millions of US children ride iconic yellow school buses to and from school on what amounts to the nation’s largest public transportation fleet — about half a million vehicles. Almost all of these buses currently run on diesel engines, which spew carcinogenic and climate-warming pollution into the air our kids breathe. It doesn’t make sense to send our kids to school on buses that create brain-harming, lung-harming, cancer-causing, climate-harming pollution. Our kids, our bus drivers, and our communities deserve better.
“We know that communities burdened with the dirtiest air should be at the front of the line to benefit from clean, quiet, zero-tailpipe-pollution electric buses. As a member of the Alliance for Electric School Buses, Moms Clean Air Force will continue to advocate for a transition of the nation’s school bus fleet to electric models.”
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