SUMMER ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN:
Electrify School Buses
A climate advocacy Action Plan with easy-to-use, powerful playbooks.
Dirty, hazardous diesel engines are still the norm, but the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program will change that.
This year, the EPA is awarding $400 million fund electric school buses. We can help ensure that money is fully deployed by contacting our local officials about the opportunity. The deadline for school districts to apply is August 22nd!
➡️ Learn more: Issue Briefing | Blog Post | Video
Featured Actions
This Action Plan will be posted until late July. Feel free to move through the playbooks at your own pace, but be sure to tackle the three Featured Actions first!
Help your school district electrify school buses
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Once federal funds are earmarked for state and local climate programs, the responsibility shifts from the federal government over to state and local officials to make the best use of those funds. But there isn’t always fanfare around new federal grants, meaning mayors and other officials often miss opportunities to take these checks and help their residents.
That’s where we come in. The EPA is offering school districts free electric buses through a new Clean School Bus Program. Many school districts would gladly electrify their bus fleets if they knew they could do so with federal dollars: we can help alert them to that opportunity.
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Estimated time: 30-45 minutes. Easy!
This playbook can be completed in one sitting, but you can start and come back anytime. Our community also takes action together during drop-in Zoom meetups called Hours of Action. Join one here!
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Use this playbook to:
Find contact information
Send an email
Make a phone call
Tweet at them
Report back
Ask a friend
Contact your city officials
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Local officials are more accessible than state reps and members of Congress. They’re often familiar faces in the community, and you can have an outsized influence over local climate policy when you reach out to them directly.
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Estimated time: 30 minutes. Easy!
This playbook can be completed in one sitting, but you can start and come back anytime. Our community also takes action together during drop-in Zoom meetups called Hours of Action. Join one here!
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Use this playbook to:
Gather contact information
Skim the climate policy
Send an email
Make a call
Tag them on social media
Report back
Ask a friend to do it too
Write a letter to the editor
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Opinion pieces are tools for communicating a policy message to a broad audience and rallying support, especially if you’re able to use them to persuade a key policy influencer (such as a business leader). And if you mention your elected officials by name, your published piece will surface in their media mentions and attract their attention. This playbook makes it simple to write a snappy 200-word LTE with a clear policy ask. Let’s go!
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Estimated time: 45-60 minutes (so worth it!)
This playbook can be completed in one sitting, but you can start and come back anytime. Our community also takes action together during drop-in Zoom meetups called Hours of Action. Join one here!
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Use this playbook to:
Skim an explainer on the policy
Choose your medium
Choose a publication
Write the opinion piece
Submit to the publication
Five more actions to level up your advocacy:
Did you complete the above Featured Actions? Awesome! Those are three high-leverage political actions that are proven to impact climate policy and you should feel accomplished. If you want to continue advocating for electric school buses, keep going with these five playbooks and level-up tracks! ⚡
☑️ 4. Contact your member of Congress about spreading the word to school districts
☑️ 5. Repurpose your letter to the editor into a shareable asset
☑️ 6. Share this priority with your network and invite others to join
☑️ 7. Map key influencers who could help nudge your school district
☑️ 8. Contact the key influencers you found in Action 7
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