U.S. Senator Ben Ray Lujan introduced a bill to make it easier for schools to apply for federal grants to get clean buses.
“Aside from the classroom, students in rural communities spend a large amount of their time commuting to and from school on buses that release harmful emissions,” Luján said in a press release, per KRQE. He added, “To address this, the (Environmental Protection Agency’s) Clean School Bus Program has provided clean school buses to communities in New Mexico and across the country. But more investments are needed to continue protecting students.”
Lujan’s bill will clarify that clean bus infrastructure and supplies are eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture grants. The more grants that can be approved the faster traditional diesel buses can be phased out in favor of electric buses.
Advocates are eager for such a change. “Swapping out the nation’s fleet of harmful, diesel school buses for clean, electric technology is a critical investment in the health and well-being of students, drivers, and communities,” Sue Gander, the director of World Resources Institute’s Electric School Bus Initiative, said per KRQE.
According to the Electric School Bus Initiative, the exhaust from diesel school buses has proven links to serious physical health and cognitive development issues for students. The organization states on its website that children from low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately subjected to this harmful air pollution. Electric school buses have zero tailpipe emissions, creating clean and healthy rides.
“It’s time for an equitable transition to electric school buses nationwide – because every student in every district deserves clean air on their ride to school, starting with those most impacted by diesel pollution,” the Electric School Bus initiative writes.
Before his election to Congress, Senator Luján served as the Chairman of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission. As a commissioner, he worked with his colleagues to develop a renewable portfolio standard to increase clean energy production by New Mexico utilities. He also advocated for first responders, working to overhaul the New Mexico Fire Fund so that all distributions from the fund would go to improving fire services in New Mexico.