PENNSYLVANIA, USA — The month of April marks Earth Month, making it the perfect time to talk about switching to clean energy.
That’s the goal of Science Moms, a group of nonpartisan climate scientists and moms. They are encouraging parents to have “cleanversations” about how harmful dirty energy can be to children’s health and how communities can switch to clean energy.
Dr. Joellen Russell, co-founder of Science Moms, says these are conversations that can take place anywhere, whether that be your kitchen table, the PTA meeting or to your local town council.
“Essentially, a lot of these decisions about what our energy systems look like are very local,” Russell told FOX43. “And because of the new federal laws that have just been put in place for clean energy, there are opportunities right now for rebates, for subsidies, for discounts that have never been available before.”
The new law Russell is talking about is the Inflation Reduction Act. Signed by President Biden last August, this legislation provides funding for new rebates, programs and more to help in the fight against climate change.
One of these programs is the Clean School Bus program, which aims to help transition away from traditional diesel buses.
“They’re awful and those fumes are terrible for our kids. They have the same things in them that you might find in cigarettes like formaldehyde and benzene, and our kids are breathing it,” Russell said about traditional buses.
Multiple school districts in Pennsylvania have already been awarded grants to make this transition, including Harrisburg City School District, Halifax Area School District and Mifflin County School District.
Rohrer Bus in Perry County is set to supply many of these buses. Their vice president David Schrantz told FOX43 that electric buses will not be delivered until sometime in 2024.
He also added that the charging infrastructure needed to support this new technology is in high demand and will take some time to install. So while the first round of grants have been issued, it will still take some time to see these changes take effect.
Another round of grant applications for the Clean School Bus program is expected to open later this year.
Outside of having conversations with your children’s school districts about what they’re doing to reduce their footprint, there are things that families can do on their own too.
“Whether it’s you switch to an electric dryer or you decided to thrift more, so you’re keeping things from getting to the landfall instead of buying new,” said Russell.
There are tax credits with the Inflation Reduction Act you can use to install new heat pumps, purchase an electric vehicle and more. You can find more information about what rebates or benefits you can take advantage of on the White House's website.
Russell believes that clean energy switches and these conversations between families can make a big impact on our carbon footprint.