One thing electric vehicle owners never complain about is the high price of gasoline or diesel. This partly explains why the Biden administration has prioritized putting more EVs on the road, including more electric school buses.
By Vance Cariaga
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On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan announced 391 rebates awards totaling nearly $1 billion to buy 2,463 school buses — 95% of which will be electric.
The funds, approved as part of last year’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will be provided through the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program. They represent the first installment of a $5 billion total that will be awarded over five years.
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The rebates will go to school districts in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., in addition to several U.S. territories and institutions serving federally recognized tribes, according to a White House fact sheet.
Harris and Regan formally announced the awards in Seattle, telling a gathering that the buses will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save money and better protect children’s health, PBS reported.
“As many as 25 million children rely on the bus to get to school each day,” Regan said, according to an EPA press release. “Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration, we are making an unprecedented investment in our children’s health, especially those in communities overburdened by air pollution. This is just the beginning of our work to build a healthier future, reduce climate pollution, and ensure the clean, breathable air that all our children deserve.”
The announcement coincides with a severe diesel shortage in the United States — something that has had the White House “on edge,” Bloomberg reported. The shortage has recently spread from the Northeast to the Southeast, prompting fuel supplier Mansfield Energy to initiate emergency protocols.
As of Oct. 26, Mansfield said it now requires a 72-hour notice for deliveries to secure fuel and freight, Bloomberg reported, citing a note to customers. In some regions of the country, fuel prices are running 30-80 cents a gallon higher than the market average, according to Mansfield.
“At times, carriers are having to visit multiple terminals to find supply, which delays deliveries and strains local trucking capacity,” the Mansfield note said.
Diesel inventories nationwide reportedly are at their lowest seasonal level ever heading into the winter. Some areas in the Northeast have already started rationing fuel, which should push prices even higher.
Meanwhile, the national average price for diesel stood at $5.309 a gallon as of Oct. 27, according to AAA. That’s down from $5.336 a week ago but up from $4.890 a month ago and $3.617 last year.
One way to address the problem is to transition more diesel-powered trucks and school buses to battery power, but there’s a long way to go. As PBS noted, only about 1% of the nation’s 480,000 school buses were electric as of last year.
However, the push to abandon traditional diesel buses has gained momentum in recent years as the Biden administration makes an aggressive move to tackle climate change.
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“We are witnessing around our country and around the world the effects of extreme climate,” Harris said. “What we’re announcing today is a step forward in our nation’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gases, to invest in our economy … to invest in building the skills of America’s workforce. All with the goal of not only saving our children, but for them, saving our planet.”
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