Washington, D.C. – In response to President Biden signing into law the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Alliance for Electric School Buses — a coalition representing environmental, equity, community, and labor groups who advocate for an equitable transition to zero-emission school buses — issued the following statement:

“We applaud this unprecedented federal investment in electric school buses, even as we continue to work towards funding the full transition of the nation’s school bus fleet to zero-emission models. The $2.5 billion allocated for electric school buses in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act begins the transition to cleaner buses for the 25 million children who ride polluting school buses every day. It is time to address this public health emergency, which is felt most acutely by low-income Black, Indigenous and people of color who are disproportionately burdened by air pollution, are more likely to use public transportation and school buses, and are already suffering from elevated asthma and COVID-19 rates.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act also allocates another $2.5 billion towards “clean” school buses, which can include electric school buses. We call on the administration to dedicate this amount towards electric school buses, which offer the greatest pollution reductions and best protect the health of our children and the communities these buses travel through. 

We look forward to working with the Environmental Protection Agency and Congress to ensure an equitable distribution of these resources to high-need communities across the country, and to enact policies that incentivize the creation and protection of good, green U.S. jobs producing and maintaining this critical fleet. Only by doing so can we ensure the advancement of our collective goals of promoting worker and environmental justice.”

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About the Alliance for Electric School Buses: We are a diverse partnership of nonprofit organizations united by our commitment to fully transition the nation’s school bus fleet to electric models that will clean up the air 25 million children breathe. Our coalition represents environmental, equity, community, and labor groups who work at the local, state, and federal levels. Members include: Chispa Arizona, Chispa Florida, Chispa Maryland, Chispa LCV, Chispa Nevada, Clean Energy Works, Earthjustice, Electric School Bus Learning Project, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Green For All, Jobs to Move America, Moms Clean Air Force, Mothers Out Front, New York League of Conservation Voters, Save the Sound, Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, US PIRG, VEIC and WE ACT for Environmental Justice.