The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made an announcement near the end of February about spending for the Clean School Bus Program. EPA has $2.3 billion left from $5 billion in funding designated for Clean School Buses in the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill from 2021.
The EPA announced they want to spend more of the remaining $2.3 billion on “alternative fuel” school buses, and less on electric school buses. This includes natural gas (compressed and liquid), propane, hydrogen, and biofuels. Once again, this announcement shows the current EPA favoring fossil fuels at the expense of the health and well-being of children. In addition, the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill requires 50% of the funds to be spent on electric school buses. Here is a news story from Canary media about the spending announcement.
EPA is accepting public comments about the Clean School Bus spending plans. You can submit a comment until 11:59pm EST on 4-6-2026. There is a chance this comment period could be extended, so check the website to be sure.
How do electric buses protect children's health?
Diesel exhaust contains over 40 toxic chemicals and is classified as a carcinogen, meaning it can cause cancer. When children breathe in exhaust from a diesel school bus, it can trigger asthma attacks, damage lung development, and hurt their ability to grow and thrive. Fine particle pollution, also called PM2.5, even damages children’s IQ. Studies show that replacing diesel school buses improves student test scores, increases aerobic capacity, and reduces school absences.
- A study from Georgia State University found that reducing children’s exposure to diesel exhaust improves students’ health and test scores.
- Researchers at Yale found that exposure to air pollution has negative long-term effects on children’s academic performance. This article also reports that a North Carolina school district saw fewer school absences once they started transitioning their bus fleet to electric buses.
- The University of Michigan found that replacing diesel school buses improves student attendance.
- A study from Harvard found that replacing one diesel bus with an electric school bus could result in $207,000 in climate and health benefits.
- A study in Barcelona found that children in schools with higher traffic-related air pollution had more behavioral issues.
- A 2024 study shows that exposure to PM2.5, even at low levels, damages children’s IQ.
- For an overview of all of the benefits of electric school buses, check out this article from our partners at the World Resources Institute.
Why aren't "alternative" fuels a good option?
The EPA has proposed using natural gas, propane, hydrogen, and biofuels instead of prioritizing electric buses. Some of these alternative fuels do indeed make less pollution than diesel, such as natural gas or propane. However, they still make air pollution and plenty of greenhouse gases and are not good for health. Hydrogen fuel cell buses are new and untested, and if the hydrogen fuel is made using fossil fuels, it makes a lot of greenhouse gases and air pollution. Biofuels make more air pollution and more greenhouse gases than diesel, so while they are potentially renewable, they are not clean or healthy.
The EPA announcement purposefully ignores the impact of climate change on students. The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics both have policy statements that say climate change is a direct threat to health, especially children’s health. Children are more vulnerable to climate change because of their size and inability to care for themselves.
- Read Mothers & Others For Clean Air’s testimony on how greenhouse gases and climate change impact health.
- Read the American Medical Association’s statement on how climate change impacts human health.
- Read the American Academy of Pediatrics’ statement on climate change and children’s health.
Any form of natural (methane) gas or propane means more fracking, more leaks of methane into the air. It means continued health problems for people who live near fracking wells, gas pipelines, and processing plants that separate propane from methane or compress methane into compressed natural gas or liquefied natural gas.
Right now, Georgia ranks 8th among all US states for the highest number of deaths from fossil fuels. We are 7th in the country in the number of people (mostly children) who develop asthma because of fossil fuel. We (especially students) need cleaner air, not more air pollution and greenhouse gases.
