Replacing the nation’s 480,000 school buses with all-electric vehicles could significantly cut annual greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the toxic air children are directly exposed to, according to a report by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Environment America Research & Policy Center, and Frontier Group.
Inhaling diesel exhaust has been linked to respiratory diseases and worsens existing respiratory conditions such as asthma, especially in children. Nationwide, an estimated 95 percent of school buses run on diesel.
“Diesel threatens children’s well-being by contributing to a number of health concerns, including asthma and cancer. Beyond that, burning diesel threatens their future,” Alana Miller, a policy analyst at Frontier Group and coauthor of the report, said. “Our report shows that all-electric school buses are an increasingly viable solution.”
Diesel contributes directly to global warming. Fully transitioning to electric school buses would remove an average of 5.3 million tons of climate-altering pollution annually.
The report contains suggestions for ways states, school districts, and bus contractors can pay for the purchase of electric school buses, vehicles which long-term are less expensive to operate than their diesel counterparts.
Suggestions from the report stated several ways states, school districts, and bus contractors can pay for the transition, including using the billions in funds states are receiving from the Volkswagen “Dieselgate” Settlement, utility investments funds, and state and federal grants.