The Biden Administration Will Help Schools in Maine, Massachusetts, & New Hampshire Buy EV Buses

President Biden has been a big proponent of electric vehicles.

His administration has enacted significant incentives for companies and individuals who want to make the switch from gas or diesel-powered vehicles to hybrids or fully electric vehicles.

For example, the Efficiency Maine website explains that an individual could get a tax rebate of as much as $7,500 when they purchase an EV.  For businesses, the amount can be even more.

Now, President Biden's administration has gone beyond promoting EVs to families and small businesses.  The administration now wants to help school districts across the country ditch their diesel buses in favor of electric buses.

According to a CBS News report, the administration is sending $900 million in rebates to 530 school districts across the country.  The money will help those districts purchase over 3,000 electric buses.

The article quotes EPA administrator Michael Regan as saying:

President Biden believes every child deserves the opportunity to lead a healthy life and breathe clean air, and his Investing in America agenda is designed to deliver just that.  With today's latest round of funding, we are transforming the nation's school bus fleet to better protect our most precious cargo—our kids—saving school districts money, improving air quality, and bolstering American manufacturing all at the same time.

It is not the first time the government has stepped up to help districts obtain electric buses.  So far, the Environmental Protection Agency has given school districts nearly $3 billion.  That man was used to purchase approximately 8,500 electric school buses.

While we don't have the complete list of New England schools, we do know that Fayette Public Schools will get $200,000, Biddeford Public Schools will get $200,000, RSU 28 will get enough money to purchase six electric buses, and Yarmouth Public Schools will receive enough money to buy three electric buses.

Check out the entire list of Maine grants on the Maine Morning Star website.

Even though electric buses will prevent our kids from breathing in toxic fumes, some have reservations about switching to electric buses.

In recent months, we have heard several stories about issues with electric buses being used by Maine school districts.  A WGME article reports that, in many of those cases, the buses had to be withdrawn from service.