A trio of White House cabinet members arrived in South Florida Monday to highlight efforts to fight climate change.
As a marching band warmed up the crowd at Coral Reef Senior High in south Miami-Dade, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Michael Regan took a spin on one of the school’s new electric school buses. U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland were scheduled to appear at the Aspen Institute’s climate conference on Miami Beach later in the day.
The round of appearances comes as President Joe Biden unveiled a $7.3 trillion budget Monday that emphasizes investing in clean energy and aims to contrast his policies with those of former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate.
Outside the magnate high school, which draws students from around the county, Regan said an additional $20 million grant announced in January will enable the district to double its electric fleet to 100.
The district now has about 1,000 buses and under the grant must scrap dirty diesel buses and replace them with EV buses. Altogether, the EPA Clean School Bus program will spend $5 billion nationwide through 2026 to replace diesel with electric buses.
“We've given out over $2 billion, and we've got $3 billion to go and so that means a lot of communities will benefit from the investments and electric school buses reducing that pollution that many of our children and bus drivers are breathing in,” said Regan. “We want to save lives through public health, but it's also a great way to combat the climate crisis.”
Of that $2 billion, Florida school districts have received $43 million, with Miami-Dade receiving nearly half.
Asked about the timing of the three secretaries visits, Regan said he was unsure about the others’ plans.
“After the State of the Union, [when] the president laid out all of the great work that he's doing to combat the climate crisis and improve public health, we decided to get out on the road and visit communities that are leading in that area,” he said.
In Florida, he said, local officials are picking up the slack where lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis have rejected or passed over money aimed at fighting climate change. In the last year, the state rejected $320 million for a program aimed at cutting vehicle emissions and $400 million to help lower-income families install solar panels. The state also failed to provide $30 million needed to qualify for $346 million in federal rebates to anyone who purchases energy efficient appliances.
“Florida is in the direct line of the climate crisis. You don't have to really turn on the radio and listen to scientists go on and on. You can look out your front door,” he said. “ While we wish that some of congressional representatives here in the state would embrace these technologies and apply for these programs, local leadership is stepping up to fill in that gap.”
Miami-Dade County has expanded its electric bus fleet to 100 buses as well, said Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
“This is a significant contribution to reducing our carbon, which from vehicles is the number one source overall,” she said. “So I'm excited the school system is doing the right thing. They've taken the right step to commit from their own resources for 50. And then thankfully, EPA is coming in with a match for 50 more.”
Across the U.S., the use of electric buses is growing but still makes up just a tiny percentage of overall buses. According to the Department of Transportation, the number of transit electric buses grew by 112 percent between 2018 and 2021. But with just 1,300 in 2021, that represented just 2 percent of the overall transit total. Of about 500,000 school buses, only about 1,800 were electric. The $5 billion included in the Infrastructure Law is expected to double that amount.
