Petition in Support of a Transition to Electric School Buses
It's time to plan the transition to Electric School Buses in the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District!
Why?
- They're healthier: they don't expose riders and the public to harmful carbon monoxide fumes (more on the health issue here)
- They're safer: better handling, responsiveness, and ride comfort and less likely to roll over due to lower center of gravity.
- They're cheaper to repair and maintain
- They're quieter: so the bus driver can more easily communicate with the passengers
- Their batteries can be used as back-up in the event of a power failure
- And they're as environmentally friendly as the energy source used to charge them!
How?
- gradually, as diesel buses need replacing.
- using some of the following funding solutions from outside Amherst:
- Volkswagen settlement money
- state education funding
- partnerships with electrical utilities
- financial benefits from vehicle to grid technology
- leasing electric school buses instead of purchasing them
For more information, click here, or contact Mothers Out Front Amherst at: [email protected].
As residents in the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District, we want to take action to help avert the worst effects of climate change. We are concerned for the health and safety of our children and grandchildren, and want to take the lead in addressing climate change. One way we can take action locally is to transition our school bus fleet from using fossil fuels to using electricity.
Transportation is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Transitioning our school bus fleet will not only lower emissions, it will also send a message to our children that we are taking steps to combat climate change, and address health concerns related to diesel exhaust, to ensure a healthy future for them.
We are concerned about the health risks associated with diesel exhaust for children that ride the bus every day. Given that young people have higher breathing rates and are still growing, they are more susceptible to the adverse health effects of diesel exhaust, such as increased allergies and asthma.
We believe it will be possible, in the coming years, to invest in electric buses without raising taxes for the communities by replacing them only as old buses age out and when the projected life-cycle cost is close to that of a diesel bus.
Therefore, we, the undersigned Amherst, Pelham, Shutesbury, and Leverett parents and community members, submit this petition to the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee, in order to declare our support for an immediate start to planning for a transition from fossil-fuel-powered to electric school buses. We ask that the School Committee:
- Develop a plan to transition the public school buses to electric as soon as is feasible, including all buses owned and contracted for service, in the context of an overall plan to reduce the carbon footprint in Amherst-Pelham Regional Public Schools.
- Research grants available for funding electric school buses and their charging infrastructure, as well as for the training to properly maintain the vehicles, and explore potential funding partnerships.
Like this to spread the word
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Anne Perkins signed 2019-12-13 16:57:30 -0500Anne Perkins
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Ariane Krumholz signed 2019-12-13 14:23:02 -0500
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Christina Platt signed 2019-12-12 08:38:37 -0500
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Laura LeClair signed 2019-12-09 22:11:22 -0500Laura C LeClair
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Ruth Kane-Levit signed 2019-12-09 15:42:03 -0500
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Barbara Kline signed 2019-12-07 19:44:54 -0500
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John Cunningham signed 2019-12-07 10:11:56 -0500John L Cunningham
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Maura Keene signed 2019-12-07 08:53:18 -0500Maura E Keene
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Lynn Morgan signed 2019-12-07 06:12:17 -0500
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Louise Grosslein signed 2019-12-06 21:20:33 -0500Louise Grosslein
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Arthur Keene signed 2019-12-06 17:22:30 -0500Arthur Keene
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Sophie Rogers signed 2019-12-06 07:31:49 -0500
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Donna McCallum signed 2019-12-05 22:13:54 -0500
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Claire Cocco signed 2019-12-05 20:55:24 -0500
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Stacey Lennard signed 2019-12-05 19:32:30 -0500
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Ashleigh Pyecroft signed 2019-12-05 19:11:07 -0500
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Susan Morrello signed 2019-12-05 12:56:13 -0500
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Elizabeth Fernandez O"Brien signed 2019-12-05 12:13:23 -0500Thanks I’ll email to ask for an update
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Laura Fitch signed 2019-12-05 11:58:23 -0500Laura Fitch
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Barbara Berlin signed 2019-12-05 11:43:08 -0500Barbara Berlin
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Rob Okun signed 2019-12-05 11:33:02 -0500
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Nina Dabek signed 2019-12-05 10:50:52 -0500
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Andrew Webster signed 2019-12-05 10:45:08 -0500
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Edith Allison signed 2019-12-05 10:11:06 -0500
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Rachel Folsom signed 2019-12-05 09:56:46 -0500
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Mary Porcino signed 2019-12-05 09:24:35 -0500Thank you for taking this step forward to move our town towards a carbon pollution free future!
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Karen Levine signed 2019-12-05 09:17:08 -0500
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Brenda Davies signed 2019-12-05 08:59:47 -0500brenda davies
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Yael Rosenbloom signed 2019-12-05 08:45:16 -0500This is so important for our children, our town and our planet! Let us lead the way for others!! We need to make these types of big changes now!!
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Kelley Allan signed 2019-12-05 07:49:29 -0500Kelley Allan