Environmental advocates call for more electric school buses in Pinellas

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Environmentalists in Pinellas County are calling for a renewed focus on electric school buses. They say it could improve air quality and children’s health.

Leaders spoke to the media this month inside an electric bus in Campbell Park in South St Pete. 

The park and a neighboring elementary school are located next to a major St. Pete interstate.

Lorna Perez with Moms Clean Air Force says emissions from cars on the road can be harmful. 

“This location is a powerful reminder of why we’re here. To acknowledge our collective responsibility to create communities where everyone has access to clean air,” Perez said.

The leaders are calling on Congress to invest in cleaner, cheaper energy, specifically investments in electric school buses. 

And Ali DySard with the Environmental Defense Fund says the issue has received bipartisan support. 

“It’s not a Republican or a Democratic initiative – electric school buses are great for Florida, great for our local air,” DySard told WMNF.

Governor Ron DeSantis’s Department of Enviromental PRotection purchased over 200 electric buses in 2022 statewide, using funds from a Volkswagen settlement. 

Currently, Pinellas County School District has 20 electric school buses operating district-wide, according to Vice Chair of the Pinellas County School Board Caprice Edmond.

But Edmond said they must do more to reduce emissions. 

“We know that pollution has had an impact on the community. Our minority and low-income neighborhoods often bear the brunt of those impacts.” Edmond said.

They joined with Congress member Kathy Castor to make the call. 

Castor says that to date, the Tampa Bay area has received $14.8 million in federal funding from the EPA’s Clean School Bus Grant Program.