From Moms Clean Air Force: (https://www.momscleanairforce.org):
Last Friday, Moms Clean Air Force joined Vice President Kamala Harris and EPA Administrator Michael Regan at Meridian High School in Falls Church, Virginia, to celebrate a historic investment in electric school buses.
The event marked the launch of EPA’s Clean School Bus Program, which will distribute $5 billion over the next five years to school districts in every state and territory to help them transition from dirty diesel school buses to clean school buses.
The launch of this program is a huge win for Moms members like you who have been advocating for electric school buses for years, and Vice President Harris acknowledged the work of parents and advocates in her remarks:
“Your voices — all of you here — have been so important. Here today we have many activists and advocates, including many parents, who have spoken out about this problem for years at school board meetings, at congressional hearings, at cookouts and neighborhood block parties… And you have demanded action. You have demanded a solution.”
School buses are our nation’s largest form of public transportation, and more than 20 million children ride them each school day. But all too often, the same buses that carry our children to school are polluting the air they breathe — both inside and outside the bus — with diesel exhaust. “Diesel exhaust is a poison,” said Vice President Harris on Friday. It can trigger asthma attacks, interfere with lung development, increase the risk of cancer, and even reduce children’s ability to learn.
Electric school buses are an important solution to the problem of diesel pollution: they dramatically reduce health-harming air pollution in the spaces where our children live, learn, and play. Electric school buses also reduce climate-warming greenhouse gases, making them a smart investment in our children’s future.
EPA’s Clean School Bus Rebate Program will distribute the first $500 million in funding for clean school buses this year. The rebate program allows school districts to apply to receive funding to invest in electric buses with no up-front cost, making electric buses as accessible as possible in the communities that need them most.
Every school district in the US can apply for this funding, but they may need some support. Right now, it’s essential that school districts learn about this new program and get support in applying for it.
Add your name and contact your Senators today at https://www.dailykos.com/campaigns/petitions/sign-tell-senators-help-get-electric-school-bus-funding-into-our-state to ask for their help getting the word out about this school bus funding so that the funding can go to your state and school district — because every child deserves a clean ride to school.
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