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Dow explodes almost 3,000 points higher, S&P 500 has best day since 2008 as Trump pauses most reciprocal tariffs; Groups oppose Medicaid cuts that would threaten coverage for 3 million PA residents; ME high school students advance local climate related projects; US judges block Trump's Venezuelan deportations using a 1798 wartime law; Ratepayers sound off on proposed sale of Minnesota Power.

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President Donald Trump pauses tariffs for 90 days, as Republicans question his trade policy. And a new federal executive order incentivizes coal for energy use but poses risks to public lands.

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Rural Dems want the DNC to bring working class voters back into the fold, kids in Maine are losing a federal program that supplies local food to schools, and Trump's tariffs sow doubt and stress for America's farmers.

Federal funding drives PA's increase in electric school buses

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Friday, September 13, 2024   

Many Pennsylvania students now ride electric buses to school. Some $900 million from the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean School Bus Program supports cleaner buses in more than 500 school districts nationwide.

The Steelton-Highspire School District received funding to purchase six electric buses, with chargers and charging infrastructure for each bus. Jenna Condran, a school board director there, said kids tell her the electric buses are "quieter and calmer."

Condran said she sees them as a financial investment that affects the school district, community and taxpayers.

"Hiring bus drivers and having to fix the buses and having new, updated buses eventually would mean taxes," she said. "Those taxes trickle down to the parents. So, being able to do something like this with the solar helps with some of that, because there are so many grants out there. So, not only is it a plus for the school, but in the long run, it could be a plus for the taxpayers as well."

Pennsylvania now has more than 250 electric school buses, but Steelton-Highspire is the only school district in the state with 100% of its bus fleet electrified, and the entire district is powered by 100% solar energy.

Brittany Barrett, deputy director of the World Resources Institute, oversees its Electric School Bus Initiative. She said older buses have disproportionately operated in districts with more Black and brown students, and in low-income and rural areas. She added that opportunities such as the Clean School Bus Program, rebates and grants can help districts transition to cleaner alternatives.

"This is just such a great opportunity now, to holistically look at how transportation is provided," she said. "With the Clean School Bus program, an additional $20,000 per vehicle is available if you purchase a wheelchair lift-equipped bus. So, we want equal access for all students."

Kevin Matthews, head of electrification for First Student, a school transportation firm that says it will electrify 30,000 buses by 2035, said that would mean reducing more than 1.6 million pounds of greenhouse gases.

"For every one diesel fuel school bus that we take off and replace with an electric, that reduces 54,000 pounds of greenhouse gases annually," he said, "so it's a very significant change and an improvement in the environment."

Matthews added that they've also observed a reduction in operating costs by 20% to 30%, compared with fossil fuel-powered buses, due primarily to lower fuel consumption but also reduced maintenance needs.


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