I have good news and bad news.
🟢The good news: EPA is granting school districts funds to invest in electric school buses, protecting our children from breathing diesel exhaust and climate pollution.
🔴The bad news: That money can also be spent on propane and compressed natural gas buses, which are run on fossil fuels.
What kind of sense does it make to allow money intended to fund clean school buses to be spent on fossil-fuel-powered buses? Burning fossil fuels creates air and climate pollution. Once school districts invest in new buses, those buses will be in use for more than a decade. Now is not the time to make a long-term commitment to fossil fuels.
We can’t let this senseless policy stand. Internal combustion buses are not just worse for human health and the Earth than electric school buses are, they can also be worse for school budgets. Propane pricing is more volatile than electric, and propane buses cost more over a lifetime than electric versions.
Read more about the downsides of propane buses in this article from Vox, which features EcoMadres member and Maryland school bus driver Carmen Cortez.
We cannot stand by while money intended to protect children’s health is invested in polluting technologies. Our children deserve a safe ride to school—and they deserve a healthy future.