Macon Telegraph: Macon schools will get 15 climate-friendly electric school buses through grant program
11Alive: Nearly 200 electric school buses coming to Georgia through EPA grant
School Resources
Diesel exhaust contains more than 40 toxic air contaminants – including arsenic, benzene and formaldehyde – and it has been classified by the EPA as a likely carcinogen.
About 95% percent of school buses run on diesel, traveling over 4 billion miles each year. Up to 26 million children travel on our nation’s 480,000 buses back and forth to school each day — spending over 3 billion hours on school buses.
Children riding on diesel buses are exposed to 4 times more air pollutants than the general population. Diesel exhaust can cause respiratory illness, chronic respiratory inflammation and trigger asthma attacks.
Children are more susceptible than adults to environmental contaminants and are thus vulnerable to downstream health effects.
Air pollution and soil, water, and interior contaminants cause an increased incidence of: asthma, worsened lung development, decreased cognition, increased cardiovascular stress, increased frequency of school absences, and lower academic performance.
Ensuring schools are built to minimize exposure to pollutants is necessary for children’s health.
For more information on school siting, please visit Georgia Conservancy.
By joining the Healthy Air Alliance Of The Southeast, you can connect with other clean air advocates in the region.
The Healthy Air Alliance Of The Southeast was created out of the desire to bring together five distinct voices — caretakers, health professionals, scientists, teachers, and youth — and it is rooted in the understanding that connection with and learning from each other is critical to solving environmental health issues.
Why is clean air important to you, your family or your community?
We invite you to share your clean air story. Personal stories show that air pollution impacts real people.