Opinion: Electric school buses a way for districts to clean up diesel-powered fleets

As the mom of a toddler, I am frequently thinking about his health and safety. There’s a lot to think about, between the tragic news headlines that confront us too regularly.

One issue that's top of mind for me locally: our not-so-great air quality in Cincinnati.

While the concerning rates of lead poisoning and asthma from our poor indoor air quality is getting more attention, many people still don’t know that Cincinnati continually ranks in the top 20 most polluted areas in the American Lung Association State of the Air Report, due to harmful emissions from power plants, cars and trucks.

That is one reason why I was glad to learn about the launching of the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program.

Wait. School buses?

Yes, school buses. Every day, over 20 million U.S. children ride to school on nearly 500,000 school buses, most which run on diesel. In Ohio alone, more than 800,000 children ride a diesel bus back and forth every school day. Diesel exhaust is a known human carcinogen. The tiny particles of pollution in diesel exhaust can lodge deep in the lungs and cause irritation, worsening respiratory illnesses like asthma. This is bad for both students and drivers.

Put simply: Diesel pollution has no business being in the places where our kids live, learn and play.

Now we have a solution right in front of us: electric school buses. The Clean School Bus Program, funded with $5 billion from the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, will allow hundreds of school districts to begin the transition from dirty diesel-powered buses to zero-emission electric ones. This is a huge step toward cleaning up the nation’s iconic yellow school bus fleet.

School districts and eligible contractors in Ohio and across the nation can apply now to the Clean School Bus Program to receive a rebate covering the cost of as many as 25 new electric school buses or the price differential between such buses and diesel buses. The rebate can also be used to install electric bus charging infrastructure.

Applications are open until Aug. 19, and the EPA is expected to announce recipients in October.

This funding is available thanks to the federal bipartisan legislation signed into law last November, and it would not have passed without the leadership of U.S. Senators like our own Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown. They understand that when funding for electric school buses is allocated to the school districts that need it the most, we see a significant transition away from the dirty diesel pollution that can put children’s health at risk.

Ohio has surrendered its place as a leader in clean energy development and climate action over the past few years. Opportunities to advance renewable energy and efficiency investments have been squandered, keeping us reliant on polluting fossil fuels. But electrifying our transportation sector is an opportunity that we can’t ignore. While we do manufacture electric school buses and house distribution operations in the state, there is not a single electric school bus on the road in Ohio today.

If we can make them here, we should be able to drive them here and reap the rewards that come with cleaner vehicles. Our kids’ health is far too important for us to be left behind yet again.

For the past year, I have been a volunteer with Moms Clean Air Force in Ohio. We have a membership base of more than 87,000 Ohio parents and grandparents who care about children’s health. We have strongly supported congressional action to establish and fund the Clean School Bus Program to move our bus fleet toward electrification. As a result, we can now be in the driver’s seat when it comes to protecting our children’s health from diesel pollution. I encourage readers to visit www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus to learn more.

Ohio, let’s get rolling toward the clean energy future that awaits us.

Sarah Mostafa is a public sector innovation expert and has several years of experience working in urban sustainability. As a new mom residing in East Walnut Hills, she advocates with Moms Clean Air Force in Ohio for clean energy and a healthier planet for all children.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Opinion: Electric school buses a way for districts to clean up diesel-powered fleets