PGE has granted the funds for two new electric school buses for Tigard-Tualatin School District, as announced at the Sept. 26 school board meeting. The grant will include the charging stations and required training. 

“The thing that I think is the most exciting about having electric buses in the school district is that kids will get to see how climate-friendly infrastructure can be a part of our daily lives,” remarked Kate Stamey, president of the TUHS Climate Club. 

Portland General Electric is committed to building a cleaner future and has been working towards that goal for a while now, according to its website. One of their most ambitious goals is to reduce carbon emissions from power given to customers by 80 percent by 2030. Important strategies to reach this goal include getting energy from renewable sources as well as switching from traditional vehicles to electric ones. 

Transportation as a whole accounts for around 40 percent of Oregon’s carbon emissions, according to oregon.gov, making a significant contribution to the worsening of climate change. Building on this, pollution has been shown to heighten the risk of several health conditions. School buses are known to play a role in the development of some diseases, according to The American Lung Association. Children’s lungs are more sensitive to the fumes due to the fact that they haven’t finished developing. Diesel school buses are therefore not only a contributor to global warming, but a hazard to school children’s health. 

The benefits of electric school buses go even further. They are much quieter than regular buses, creating a safer environment for students to communicate with the driver in the case of an emergency. Electric vehicles are also cheaper to maintain than gas vehicles, saving money for the whole district. These new, energy-efficient buses have several advantages over traditional school buses, and are an important step towards a cleaner future.