Lung Health News, Fall 2005 / Winter 2006
California’s school children are more at risk from the negative health effects of diesel exhaust because the state has one of the nation’s oldest and most polluting school bus fleets.The American Lung Association of California supported funding to replace and retrofit older diesel school buses, which included $25 million in the recently adopted state budget, and is working to reduce the number of these older buses and encourage school districts to transition to cleaner-fueled alternatives. The association will reach out to school districts, school boards and local governments, working with the network it has developed through its Clean Vehicle rogram. Model cleaner bus resolutions will be provided to target districts and individual strategies will be developed to help school districts make the transition to cleaner buses.
