Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants Massachusetts cities and towns to apply for federal grants allowing them to replace diesel-operated school buses, public buses, and train engines with their electric-powered counterparts.
In a Tuesday letter to the heads of the Massachusetts Municipal Association and the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, Warren said the iconic yellow school buses used across the United States that still operate on fossil fuels are harmful to children.
The air pollutants from tailpipes impact children’s learning, development, and health through asthma and other respiratory diseases, heart disease, and cancer, Warren said.
“Communities of color are disproportionately exposed to this risk,” Warren said in the letter. “Furthermore, the greenhouse [gasses] that are emitted by diesel buses contribute to the climate crisis.”
Warren pointed to $400 million in grants available through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Grants Program. The deadline for cities and towns to apply for grants is Aug. 22, Warren said, and officials are prioritizing applications that replace buses serving “high-need” education agencies, Tribal school districts, and rural areas.
“The benefits of electrifying our school bus fleet are extraordinary. Replacing a single diesel bus with an electric one can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 54,000 pounds each year, as good as replacing nearly six passenger vehicles,” Warren said. “Electrification eliminates the health risk from air pollution to drivers, children riding the bus, and the communities through which they pass.”
The first round of recipients announced last fall received nearly $1 billion to fund electric and low-emission school buses. Five local school districts secured more than $29 million in rebates to purchase 75 new electric school buses, Warren said.
Boston used $7 million in pandemic-era relief money to buy 20 electric buses, which Mayor Michelle Wu launched in February. Wu said those buses, which serve 42 routes and more than 2,500 students, were key to cutting down on carbon emissions.
“This pilot program is the largest of its kind in the Northeast, and will help us gather more data on route efficiency, bus operations as well as the climate and public health impacts with an overall goal of fully electrifying our school bus fleet by 2030,” Wu said as she stood in front of the new buses.
Warren said electric school buses are “an important investment in our children’s future.”
“I highly encourage you and your members to make the most of the opportunities provided through the EPA Clean School Bus Program, and look forward to working with you to bring this funding home to communities across Massachusetts,” Warren said in the letter to municipal leaders.