Last month, the Canadian province of British Columbia became the largest school jurisdiction in North America to commit to switching entirely from diesel to electricity-powered school buses. Buses currently transport more than 100,000 students there. A new coalition of educators, health professionals and environmental groups, the Canadian Electric School Bus Alliance, is pushing for a national switch to electric as a way to eliminate at least one source of toxic pollutants, diesel exhaust, from endangering the vulnerable bodies of young people. The province of Quebec has committed to achieving a 65% electric school bus fleet by 2030.
In doing so, the Canadians are recognizing a fundamental fact of climate pollution often missed by the media, but relevant to all no matter what side of the U.S. border you’re on. Greenhouse gas pollutants not only have long-term impacts on the Earth’s planetary balance, they often cause immediate harm to the health of those exposed directly to their fumes.
