Cleaner School Bus Fuel in Chicago
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 10. 4.05
Chicago has certainly turned our heads these days between the new eco-friendly elementary school, the “Down in the Dumps” tour and the “Beyond the Trailer Park” exhibit at The Field Museum, it’s no wonder TreeHugger’s editor, Dominic Muren, lives there. Here’s one more to add to the eco-list for Chicago: Suburban school buses are now using a blended fuel containing soybean oil. The Cook-Illinois Corporation was the first school bus service to make the switch which is all part of the “Illinois Clean Bus Program” developed and administered by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The purpose of the program is to provide a healthier environment for children by reducing the emissions from diesel powered school buses and improve the air quality in local communities. So far it has reduced exhaust emissions by about 25%. Operating more than 1,400 school buses in 26 communities, Cook-Illinois is the largest bus fleet in the country to use the healthier alternative and environmentally-friendly fuel. Illinois is one of several states starting to make the school bus switch to biodiesel fuel. Others include Maine, West Virginia, Nevada, Kentucky and New Jersey. Via ::PR Newswire More information ::Clean School Bus USA, EPA ::CleanSchoolBus.org
The unasked question is, why do you need a fleet of buses to bring children to school in the first place? Why not have schools within walking distance of their homes? Or, at least, why doesn't the existing public transit infrastructure - of which Chicago has a pretty decent one - serve public school kids properly?
well, because this is in the suburbs, not in chicago proper. chicago kids take public transpo.
Why stop with school buses? Chicago needs to take steps to reduce or remove pollution in ALL buses within the city and the surrounding counties. As a cyclist, it's easy for me to experience the huge amounts of cancer-causing pollution that exists on these streets.