By Bob Katzen

This bill would set up a program for the Education Department to provide grants to schools to encourage and incentivize the schools to purchase zero-emission school buses. The program would pay for the difference between the cost of a zero-emissions vehicle and a diesel-powered one.

“If we’re serious about environmental justice and achieving our state’s climate action goals in 2030 and 2050, then we must pursue every possible avenue to reduce carbon emissions and air pollution in our communities,” said sponsor Sen. Becca Rausch (D-Needham). “Switching to zero-emission buses would cut those emissions by up to 35 percent annually, improving not only our environmental health but human health as well. Diesel fumes inhaled by our children are associated with asthma, heart disease and lung disease. This is a public health issue as much as it is a climate issue.”