Pollutants Still Coming from School Buses

Every morning and every afternoon, children are still riding the same yellow buses known as the school bus. Activist says that the children and people around are breathing in a dangerous brew of pollutants up to five times dirtier than the air outside.

It's a situation that Congress and a lot of the 50 states have sought to fix in recent years. In saying that, federal lawmakers passed a measure to replace the dirtiest diesel engines across the nation in 2005. But as you can see nothing has been done to take care of it. Around the country, state officials are struggling to find the money to carry out clean school bus initiatives.

Congress has yet to deliver on the $1 billion it promised over five years to help states clean up diesel fleets, including school buses.

Breathing high concentrations of diesel emissions (also known as particulates) can cause minor ailments such as headaches, wheezing, and dizziness. Recent studies however, have found that the contaminants can do more serious damage including the cause of lung cancer and asthma. Two types of filters are available to reduce the most dangerous emissions on older buses. Diesel particulate filters- which are installed in place of mufflers at an estimated cost of $700 each can reduce tailpipe emissions by at least 85 percent. Closed crankcase filtration systems- which go under the hood and close $7500, can reduce engine soot by about 90 percent.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, an estimated 390,000 diesel school buses are on the road in the United States. About one-third of the nation's diesel school bus fleet, or more than 100,000 buses, were manufactured before 1990 and are big polluters. That's a lot of dangerous emission that enters through doors and windows of the buses; the longer the ride, the more harmful to children.

Money is a big issue and most of the states have never seen it to start cleaning up the buses. California got their wish and was approved $250 million last year to clean up its school bus fleet. Texas lawmakers two years ago, created a grant program to help schools pay for the clean filters, but the never funded the money. The money was supposed to have come from an emissions reduction fund supported by fees on vehicle sales, registrations and inspections but the lawmakers decided to spend much of that to pay for other things.

Congress passed the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, a bipartisan initiative that authorized $1 billion to help states clean up diesel fleets, but states have seen none of that money. Although time goes by and buses let out more pollutants than ever before, hopefully the funds will be given and then make our children's world a safe environment.