Washington, D.C. — Today, the Biden administration announced a new program to offer $5 billion toward replacing old, polluting school buses with clean, electric buses in the latest effort to help fight climate change and improve the nation’s air quality. This program would help school districts save money while providing high-quality jobs for workers to build buses. And it would prioritize deployment in high-need schools, rural schools, tribal schools, and schools in low-income areas in keeping with the administration’s Justice40 goals. In response, Christy Goldfuss, senior vice president for Energy and Environment Policy at the Center for American Progress, released the following statement:
This effort to replace dirty school buses with zero-emission buses is exactly the kind of program America needs to help it transition to a clean energy economy. The program targets the nation’s largest form of mass transit and will improve the health of children, bus drivers, and teachers. It will also expand the domestic manufacturing of electric vehicles and batteries while supporting high-quality, family-sustaining jobs. And it focuses on helping those school districts with the highest need, including those in low-income, rural, and tribal areas. It’s a testament to the leadership of Vice President Kamala Harris, who has worked for years to make school bus electrification a reality.
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