It’s a new year and a new opportunity to protect our kids from air pollution — especially with their still-developing lungs. Did you know that the air pollution inside a diesel bus can be 4-12 times higher than outside?(1) Riding to school in a safe, healthy environment shouldn't be a privilege — all kids deserve to have clean air.
Tell your Washington state legislators: Transition our school bus fleets to pollution-free.
In Washington, fewer than 1% of our state's school bus fleet are electric, meaning most of our state's operating school buses are creating unhealthy air pollution.(2) Diesel exhaust has been shown to cause numerous health problems, including cancer, asthma, and bronchitis.(3) And of course, diesel exhaust is a climate pollutant that contributes to the climate crisis.
Fortunately, zero-emission school buses provide a cleaner, healthier way for kids to get to school. Washington legislators introduced a bill in the 2023 legislative session that would have transitioned Washington's school bus fleet to be zero emission, but it didn't advance.(4)
We have another chance in this 2024 legislative session to pass a policy that would require all school buses to be zero-emission by 2035 and fund this transition, but we need your support to make this happen.
Notes:
1. Science Direct, June 2011 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167629611000701#bib0190
2. Ashli Blow, "Seattle-Area Schools Slowly Electrify Bus Fleets," The Urbanist, September 23, 2023.
3. "Accelerating the Transition to Electric School Buses," Environment America, February 1, 2021.
4. "HB 1368 - 2023-24," Washington State Legislature, last accessed October 24, 2023.
