The EPA is shifting gears toward cleaner air for kids in Cali, dishing out nearly $90 million to school districts for eco-friendly buses under President Biden's Investing in America gig, according to a statement released yesterday.
Five Golden State applicants have hit the jackpot, scoring big bucks to swap out stinky old school buses for 234 ritzy, clean models that don't choke the atmosphere; Zum Services Inc. snagged over $26 million for 80 buses, while Los Angeles Unified isn't far behind with a $19.75 million slice for 50 of their own, and let's not forget Porterville Unified, Kern High, and San Diego Unified which got their cut of the green money pie, told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The loot's all part of Biden's master plan to clear up the smog and give the climate crisis the old one-two punch, gunning to save districts some dough and nix diesel gunk that's messing with kids' lungs.
In a move as clean as the buses it's funding, San Francisco's set to roll out 37 pollution-busting rides, a nod from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law inked by Joe Biden two years ago, touted Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi; she's jazzed about the fresh lungful of air kiddos in her city will be huffing, and she's not alone, with EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan hyping up the health perks and job creation that comes strapped with the initiative.
Meanwhile, Reps Barbara Lee and Nanette Diaz Barragán are cheering on the change, with Lee whispering sweet nothings about Oakland and Alameda's electric bus boost and Barragán saluting Long Beach's future slash in diesel nasties that are roughing up the local rugrats' windpipes, both got the word straight from the EPA. San Diego's Rep Scott Peters is also swooning over the $12.4 million flirting with the city's skyline, set to spruce up the local streets and schoolyards. On the biz side, Zum's big boss, Ritu Narayan, says the cash will turbocharge their eco-friendly ride goals as First Student's Chris Bokelman props their plan to ditch 30,000 diesel dinosaurs by 2035.
Porterville's Assistant Superintendent Dr. Brad Rohrbach is set to pivot the district's wheels to 'green', backed by the hefty EPA grant. San Diego's John Burciaga is ready to put the pedal to the metal on replacing 30 old-school diesel buses with zero-emission superstars, breathing life into community health and sparking up educational opportunities that come with a side of sustainability. It's part of a bigger picture drawn by the EPA's $5 billion Clean School Bus Program, part of Biden's Law, ready to step on the gas with an upcoming 2023 Clean School Bus Rebate Program—applications are open till the end of January—with a whole lot more green for schools looking to do a 180 on emissions and watch the savings stack up while the pollutants pack up.
