School buses are getting cleaner in Washington state after this year's legislative session.

Lawmakers in Olympia passed House Bill 1368, which will fund the purchase of zero emission school buses.

Rep. Tana Senn, D-Mercer Island, said the program is getting off the ground quickly.

"As we work towards that long-term goal of all new school buses being zero emission, we're kick-starting this year with $40 million in grants to school districts in overburdened communities," Senn explained.

Going forward, Senn noted school districts will have to purchase zero-emission vehicles once the total cost of ownership is equal to or lower than the cost of diesel vehicles. The state is leveraging the state's Climate Commitment Act resources to fund the transition of its 10,000 school buses.

Devin Denney, director of transportation for Highline Public Schools in King County, which already has electric school buses in its fleet, said he has driven the electric buses and talked about some of their benefits from a driver's perspective.

"You're not competing against that engine noise, the kids aren't competing against the engine noise," Denney observed. "It's a much quieter bus all the way around. The major advantage, of course, is that there's no tailpipe emissions with an electric bus, so our kids' health is better protected."

Senn emphasized health studies have shown there are negative health effects from diesel vehicles for kids, and it is easy to understand why.

"If you think about kids waiting to get on their bus in front of an elementary school and you have this line of buses idling, letting out diesel fumes right at the height of a little child, it becomes obvious that this is probably not the most healthy thing for our children," Senn added.


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As the warming climate continues to reshape the environment, its impact on people's health is becoming increasingly evident in Florida. Doctors and other health experts are sounding the alarm, emphasizing the need for action to address the intersection of climate change and public health.

Dr. Farhan Malik, a pediatric intensive-care unit doctor at Florida's Nemours Children's Hospital, highlighted the broad and often underestimated health risks tied to climate change, explaining how environmental changes are affecting vulnerable populations, especially children.

"I think everything that you could possibly encounter from a health perspective, we don't attribute enough to climate," he said. "From my realm, in the pediatric world, a lot of these kids are affected by infectious diseases, they've got weak immune systems, they've got immature lungs."

Malik pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of how environmental changes, from deforestation to rising temperatures, force animals into new habitats, increasing the risk of zoonotic diseases and global health crises.

Dr. Cheryl Holder, a primary-care physician who co-founded and heads Florida Clinicians for Climate Action, echoed those concerns, particularly the impact of heat on those at greater risk for heat-related illnesses.

"And especially heat, which is the number one weather-related killer," she said. "How do we get folks to be prepared and protected for the heat? Central Florida has a large amount of areas that we call 'heat islands' because they don't have as much shade, a lot of concrete - and lower-wealth communities, they can be 10 degrees higher."

She said many people don't realize how severe heat stroke can be, stressing that calling 911 should be the first step before attempting to cool the body down.

The need for greater public awareness and action was among the topics at this week's Climate Correction Conference in Orlando.

As federal funding for climate initiatives faces steep cuts, nonprofits and philanthropic organizations are stepping into the breach, calling out the urgent need for private support to address what they see as an existential crisis.

The issue took center stage Wednesday in Orlando, at the Climate Correction Conference. With federal grants paused or canceled due to recent executive orders and legal challenges, nonprofits grapple with uncertainty, making private philanthropy more critical than ever.

Dawn Shirreffs, Florida director of the Environmental Defense Fund, explained the urgency.

"We don't have time," Shirreffs emphasized. "In fact, one of the things Environmental Defense Fund is known for is we don't have an endowment, because we don't feel we have the time to wait in the battle on climate change to have money sitting in a bank. We need to get our greenhouse gas emissions down now, so that we have a planet to fight for."

Shirreffs argued it is time to rethink philanthropic giving. She stressed there is a critical need for strategic, multiyear funding rather than one-time donations to sustain climate efforts.

David S. Vogel, cofounder, trustee and chief scientist for the VoLo Foundation, which is hosting the conference, said as a data-driven funder, he prioritizes long-term investments in climate solutions, from sustainable farming to clean energy innovation. He echoed the call for proactive philanthropy in light of federal funding cuts.

"Cuts all across the board -- not just climate science, cancer research -- again, the government falling short on thinking proactively. It's very reactive," Vogel contended. "As a result, maybe the government will end up having to pay more in climate damages. But it's more important than ever for private funding to step in and fund at least the right areas of research."

Yoca Arditti-Rocha, executive director of the CLEO Institute, highlighted the disproportionate impact of climate change on Florida, from rising sea levels and stronger hurricanes to an insurance crisis, all while receiving minimal funding for solutions.

"It's important to understand that only 2% of global philanthropy dollars go to climate solutions," Arditti-Rocha pointed out. "We cannot solve this issue with just 2%. We must close that funding gap."

The panelists agreed the climate crisis is a threat multiplier, exacerbating issues like poverty, public health and housing. They said philanthropy must step up to fill the void being left by government cuts.

Michigan ranks 26th in the U.S. for total installed solar capacity, while global capacity rose 21% from 2023. However, there are industry concerns that federal policy changes and trade barriers may slow future growth. In 2024, Michigan added over 450 megawatts of solar, bringing its total to more than 1,800 megawatts - enough to power over 300,000 homes. Nationwide, nearly 50 gigawatts were installed.

John Freeman, executive director of the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association, remains confident, citing market demand as the key driver.

"The marketplace is indicating that you can get lower costing energy from using solar and wind - and at the same time you're also able to reduce your cost by not using an energy source like coal which pollutes," he said.

While Freeman remains optimistic about the future of solar power, critics argue it's unreliable, expensive upfront, land-intensive, difficult to recycle, dependent on subsidies, and a strain on the power grid.

Freeman pointed out that technological advances in the solar industry are also increasing demand. He explained that in the past, homeowners would send excess solar energy back to the grid, relying on net metering or losing unused power, but now the use of home battery storage has been an efficient game-changer.

"The extra electricity that your system was producing during the day that you can't use immediately, you just dump that into your battery and then you utilize that electricity from your batteries in the evening when the sun is gone down," he continued.

In 2023, solar energy accounted for 53% of all new electricity-generating capacity added in the U.S., surpassing wind and natural gas. However, skeptics point to mining, energy use, and solar panel waste.


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