FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, September 24, 2019
Contact: Tim Cywinski, 540.272.5358 or tim.cywinski@sierraclub.org
Virginia Announces $20 Million Electric School Bus Initiative from Volkswagen Settlement Funding
NEW YORK - Today, Governor Ralph Northam announced that Virginia will allocate $20 million from the Volkswagen (VW) Environmental Mitigation Trust towards accelerating the deployment of electric school buses across the Commonwealth. Governor Northam gave the announcement at a Climate Week NYC event hosted by the United States Climate Alliance with the governors of California, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Washington.
This is the third announcement of funding that Virginia has allocated from the Volkswagen settlement through a state mitigation plan. Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is the designated lead agency acting on the state’s behalf to distribute Virginia’s share of $93.6 million from the settlement.
Last year, Governor Northam announced approximately $14 million to develop the Commonwealth’s electric vehicle charging network and an additional $14 million to fund the deployment of electric transit buses.
In response, Sierra Club Virginia Chapter Campaign and Policy Director Kelsey Crane released the following statement:
“Virginia’s announcement today exemplifies how Volkswagen settlement funding can and should be used in a transformative way to invest in clean transportation and drive away dirty pollution. Investing in electric school buses is an opportunity for all Virginians -- especially the most vulnerable, our children -- to enjoy cleaner air, healthier communities, and new job opportunities.
“States around the country deciding on how to spend their VW funds should take note and follow suit on transportation electrification. Putting more money into dirty fuel sources like diesel and fracked gas would keep us locked into a dirty transportation system for decades to come. As last week’s historic Youth Climate Strike showed, the time to act on climate and the biggest source of climate-disrupting emissions is now.”
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The Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club is over 20,000 members strong. We are your friends and neighbors working to build healthy, livable communities, and to conserve and protect our climate and environment. The Virginia Chapter is part of the national Sierra Club, the nation's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. For more information, visit http://www.sierraclub.org/virginia.