School kids deserve a clean ride to school. That’s why Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) should be the first large school district in the nation to shift its entire school bus fleet to zero emissions, leaving no polluting buses on our roads after 2035. Take action today to urge the LAUSD Superintendent and Board to switch to an all-electric school bus fleet!
Research shows that diesel school buses not only pollute the air in the neighborhoods they drive through, but they also leave kids in the back of the bus breathing toxic diesel exhaust. This is a particularly dangerous kind of air pollution that elevates levels of asthma, heart problems, and cancer for people nearby. Children face special risks from air pollution because their lungs are still developing, they breathe about twice as fast as adults, and they have larger lungs relative to their size.
Los Angeles already breathes some of the dirtiest air in the nation. We can help reverse some of Los Angeles’s history of abysmal air quality and protect our health by shifting to electric school buses. This transition has far more benefits than just clean air though.
In order to protect our climate, we need to electrify everything on wheels and run it on clean energy. This is especially true for California, as 41 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions come from the transportation sector. We’ve already made incredible progress electrifying the largest, most polluting vehicles on the road in California – it's only common sense that we do the same with the school buses the youngest Angelenos ride every day.
Electric school buses are a boon for the economy in Southern California, and support good, clean energy jobs. Local unions like the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers are enthusiastic about the clean energy jobs to be had in installing charging infrastructure for electric school buses. We also have an opportunity to create good, union manufacturing jobs that will build LAUSD’s electric school bus fleet right here in Southern California.
In addition, electric school buses shield school districts from volatile fuel prices. Modesto City Schools purchased 30 electric school buses, estimating it would save the school district more than $250,000 a year in fuel costs.
Switching to an all-electric school bus fleet will clean up air pollution, protect our climate, and provide clean energy jobs. Urging LAUSD to go all in on electric school buses can spark an important national trend to modernize school buses and protect our climate. Tell the LAUSD Superintendent and Board to modernize school buses
