For Immediate Release
Contact: Taylor McFarland, Sierra Club-NJ, 732-865-1405
Today the Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Cmt. released A1971(Stanley) which would establish a pilot program to demonstrate the advantages of electric school buses. Sierra Club, NJ Chapter is a strong supporter for the legislation.
“This pilot program will be a big first step toward reducing pollution and very importantly to meeting the State’s goals in reducing greenhouse gases. And from what we learn from the pilot program, we should be able to launch, state-wide, an electric school bus program for every school district,” said Kip Cherry, Conservation Chair, Sierra Club- Central Jersey Group.
Every school day, thousands of children are exposed to noxious fumes and harmful pollutants, whether they are standing outside an idling school bus or sitting inside while the bus is on its route. But there is a solution, which is to get rid of diesel buses and replace them with clean electric school buses.
“For the health of our children, who are today riding to and from school in diesel-polluting, CO2-spewing school buses, we need to pass A1971(Stanley). Few issues today are as bi-partisan as this, so let's do the right thing and convert our dirty school buses to electric powered -- for the sake of our kids and the environment,” said Gary Frederick, Conservation Chair of the Raritan Valley Sierra Club group.
Under the bill, the BPU would award grants up to $10 million total from revenues of the societal benefits charge to school districts selected to participate in the pilot program to purchase electric school buses and to purchase and install electric school bus charging infrastructure in coordination with school bus contractors and any State department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as necessary.
“We do think that there are some improvements that could be made to the bill. We recommend that the program be continued over five years with $10 million in Societal Benefits Funds each year, and that it be targeted to school districts with disadvantaged municipalities. We also recommend enhanced data collection and reporting, and recommend a formal interagency committee for coordinating with other State electric school bus programs involving RGGI and VW Mitigation Funds, and for solving technical and logistics related to the purchase and operation of electric school buses,” said Kip Cherry, Conservation Chair, Sierra Club- Central Jersey Group.