National field manager for Moms Clean Air Force on fighting school bus pollution
![](https://www.wabe.org/app/uploads/2022/01/School-Bus-Decatur-scaled.jpg)
Emil Moffatt / WABE
The Biden administration is pushing to make diesel-powered school buses a thing of the past.
Vice President Kamala Harris recently announced additional funding to the Environmental Protection Agency’s new Clean School Bus Program, which provides money for more than five years to replace diesel-fueled school buses with clean and zero-emission models.
Almeta Cooper, a health policy expert and the national field manager for Moms Clean Air Force, says asthma is the leading chronic disease among children in the U.S. and it’s worsened by pollution from diesel-fueled school buses.
“We have to find a way and make it a priority to fund electric school buses and the infrastructure that’s necessary to protect our children,” said Cooper on Thursday’s edition of “Closer Look.”
During the conversation, Cooper talked with program host Rose Scott about the impact diesel-fueled school buses have on children’s health and her organization’s efforts to electrify America’s school bus fleet.