California's rural school districts are facing tough challenges thanks to a statewide mandate to electrify all new school buses starting in 2035, and one local school official says new vehicles will be longer-distance vehicles. It warns children could be left stranded for driving.
“There is no place on the ground where you can connect buses to go to these places. [long distance] As a result, children across the state are at risk,” Morgan Nugent, superintendent of Lassen Union High School in Northern California, told “Fox & Friends First” on Wednesday.
“There are some areas that have very extreme temperatures. Bridgeport, California is a good example where we have recorded temperatures of 40 degrees below zero in other places in some cases,” he continued.
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California's superintendent warns that the state's electric bus mandate, set to go into effect in 2035, will have a negative impact on rural areas. (St. Petersburg)
“If a bus breaks down between these areas, children will be left without heating and we have to consider the safety situation.”
Assembly Bill 579The bill, signed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom last year, requires that “all new school buses purchased or contracted by a school district, county department of education, or charter school be 100% zero-emission vehicles, if possible. ” is required.
This requirement makes the Golden State the fifth state in the nation to require a transition away from internal combustion engines, following Connecticut, Maryland, Maine and New York.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 579 last year. (Jane Tiska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images)
Nugent noted that some of the community's routes can exceed 40 to 50 miles one-way, and up to 220 miles for sporting events. Traveling to Redding, California presents special challenges.
“We're looking at about 120 miles to get there,” he said. “And on State Route 44, we're literally in an area with no cell phone service. There's no place to go ahead and put a charging station.”
The district currently has four electric buses in operation, but Nugent said each can only travel about 93 miles on a single charge.
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California's AB 579 would require that “all new school buses purchased or contracted by a school district, county department of education, or charter school be 100% zero-emission vehicles, if possible.” (Fox News)
“The idea of trying to help get the kids on the bus for such a long journey means I have to change buses two or three times just to get to the game, otherwise I have to use the Pony Express. “We're almost back to the situation where we ended up replacing horses, or now electric buses, to take our kids to sporting events,” he said.
The Biden administration this week will award nearly $1 billion in additional federal grants to school districts across the country to decarbonize their bus fleets, even as recent EPA inspector general findings cast doubt on charging infrastructure. announced that it would be distributed.
Nugent said his district has not been able to purchase more diesel-powered buses as per the state mandate.
“It is said that you have the ability to last until 2035.” [to buy them]. At this time, it was previously not possible to buy new diesel buses since last year. So they're telling the truth, we have the ability to continue to get diesel buses, but we also have to be able to sell them here in California,” he said.
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FOX News' Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.
