ISSUE BRIEFING:

Electric School Buses

Dirty, hazardous diesel engines are still the norm, but the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program will change that.

Why advocate for electric school buses?

More than 20 million children in the U.S. ride the bus to school. Despite a promising uptick in the number of electric buses purchased (they’re now in all 50 states!), over 90% of school buses still run on diesel engines. Tailpipe emissions from diesel buses contribute to the carbon footprint of the U.S. transportation sector, which represents over a quarter of U.S. emissions. Diesel exhaust is also a known carcinogen and has been linked to cognitive development issues and respiratory illness in children.

The 2021 Investment Infrastructure & Jobs Act allocates $5 billion in grants through 2026 for school districts to electrify their fleets. The EPA, which is administering the program, has already awarded the first $500 million in school bus funding and plans to distribute an additional $400 million in 2023. Already, the Clean School Bus Program has funded 50% of all purchased and committed electric school buses in the country. But the remaining funds may go unused if school districts don’t apply for them, so it’s important that districts understand the opportunity available to them.

In addition to the enormous climate and health benefits that electric school buses can deliver, school districts can expect much lower maintenance cost (as is true of all electric vehicles) and the potential for increased local electricity efficiency if the buses can feed power back to the grid when unused. With lower maintenance costs, potentially lower fuel costs, and a completely subsidized up-front cost, the program is an unambiguous win for school districts.

Quick Frames

We (and the decision-makers we want to persuade) are each approaching the climate crisis through different lenses. Facts are facts, but it can be helpful to frame them differently to match those individual lenses. Here are some common frames that speak to different perspectives:

💡RAPID DECARBONIZATION: Electric school buses could cut annual greenhouse gas emissions by 5.3 million tons.
♥️ HUMAN HEALTH: Diesel exhaust is carcinogenic and causes illness in children. According to the American Lung Association, children’s lungs, brains, and hearts are particularly vulnerable to the toxins in diesel tailpipe emissions.
🌲 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: Toxins in diesel exhaust like fine particulate matter, benzene, and NOx pollute our air and water and create acid rain. The ground-level ozone created by diesel engines also jeopardizes our crops, trees, and other plant life.
✊ EQUITY AND JUSTICE: Children from low-income families are more likely to ride the bus than wealthier children. Low-income children and children of color are already more likely to suffer from asthma and other respiratory diseases, so diesel school buses exacerbate existing health disparities.
💰 COST SAVINGS: Through the Clean School Bus Program, electric school buses are 100% subsidized! All electric vehicles also require less physical maintenance than internal combustion engines, delivering cost-saving benefits to school districts over the long run. In many parts of the country, electricity is cheaper than diesel.

Building a Case for Electric School Buses

Transportation accounts for 28% of U.S. carbon emissions, and switching to an all-electric school bus fleet could avoid 5.3 million tons of CO2 emissions annually. To contextualize this number, electrifying school buses in New York State alone (as it plans to do by 2035) would be equivalent to taking nearly 650,000 passenger vehicles off the road. Where bidirectional charging is possible, dormant electric buses can also return electricity to the grid, helping improve grid efficiency.
Studies show that children exposed to fumes released by idling buses have a higher risk of asthma, decreased lung function, immunologic reactions, and leukemia. Diesel exhaust may also be contributing to cognitive impairment in children—test scores among students who used electric buses were slightly higher compared to students who used diesel buses.
Sixty percent of low-income children ride the bus to school, compared to 45% of children overall. Low-income and children of color are already disproportionately likely to suffer adverse health effects from their environment, so electrifying school buses helps counteract those health disparities. Diesel engines are also linked to cognitive impairment, so clean buses in low-income districts can also help improve academic outcomes.
The federal government is delivering a major benefit to school districts by subsidizing the steep upfront cost of electric buses. That almost guarantees net savings for districts. According to the Electric School Bus Initiative, school districts could save $2,000 in fuel and $4,400 in maintenance every year. On average, school districts spend just 14 cents per mile on their electric buses compared to 49 cents per mile for diesel buses. These cost savings are significant given the tight budgets most school districts face.