The Smoke from the Bus Goes Round and Round

In 2005 Congress passed the bipartisan Diesel Emissions Reduction Act which authorized states to receive $1 billion to help reduce diesel emissions. School buses are one vehicle that uses diesel fuel, and buses manufactured before 1990 are not equipped with the filters required to meet emissions standards. What is particularly alarming is that the smoke circulates back through the open windows of the bus, making it unavoidable for children to breath in a higher concentration of pollutants for the duration of their ride.The Environmental Protection Agency has shown that breathing in these emissions can cause health problems ranging from headaches to asthma to lung cancer. Though congress has passed the act and research done by the EPA validates it, states have yet to see any money.

Instead, progress has been made only in due to federalism and individual state initiative. In California due to an elections system of initiative and referendum, voters approved a $200 million measure to buy filters for older school buses.