This is a statement from New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Executive Director, Ed Potosnak and Anjuli Ramos, Director of the Sierra Club NJ Chapter, regarding Governor Murphy signing into law a bill that will establish a program to utilize $45 million of grant funding for electric school buses.

“Today we can literally all breathe easier about our children and our students’ futures. We applaud the legislature and Governor Murphy for passage and signing into law a bill to electrify our school buses. Electric school buses have been a top priority at New Jersey LCV because there is nothing more important to us than the health of our children and students, and today we transition away from the past of kids breathing dirty diesel fumes to and from school,” said Ed Potosnak, Executive Director, New Jersey LCV. “Studies show that New Jersey continues to have some of the most polluted air in the nation, and school buses are the most heavily used public form of transportation. This bill is a good first step to having our students, especially those who live in already overburdened communities, breathe cleaner air. The bill allows for the pilot program to utilize $45 million of existing funding while providing critical information to scale the program up in the future.”

“In a win for clean air and our kid’s health, Governor Murphy has signed the electric school bus bill. This law is the jumpstart for electric school buses in New Jersey. Not only will this reduce air pollution for the children riding it, but for all of the communities that the school buses go through. Cars, buses, and trucks are the leading source of greenhouse gasses in the state – electrifying school buses is a big step forward when tackling climate change,” said Anjuli Ramos, Director of the Sierra Club, NJ Chapter. “We thank Governor Murphy and our state legislators for their support and passage of a bill that will help our children breathe easier.