Biden admin is racing to spend big bucks on green heavy-duty vehicles, including electric school buses, before Trump returns to power.
The lame-duck Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is moving to spend $735 million on green heavy-duty vehicles, including hundreds of millions on green school buses, in its final days. [emphasis, links added]
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be carrying out the spending deluge to help purchase more than 2,400 zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles with funding coming from President Joe Biden’s signature climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the agency announced.
About 70% of the cash will be used to further the adoption of green school buses, and the Biden EPA is moving to shovel money out the door to fund its favored programs ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s official return to power in January.
“To tackle the climate crisis, we have to slash pollution from every sector, including heavy-duty transportation,” John Podesta, one of the most powerful climate advisers in the Biden administration, said of the funding. “Today’s awards from the EPA will create good-paying jobs, make our communities healthier, and protect our planet.”
Beyond school buses, the funding can also cover battery-powered trucks, emergency vehicles, trash haulers, school buses, transit buses, utility vehicles, and more, according to the EPA.
Most of the vehicles covered by the funding will be battery-powered, though some may also be powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
The IRA funding for green heavy-duty vehicles complements a $3 billion clean school bus program established by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law and the Biden EPA’s regulations designed to significantly increase the share of zero-emissions heavy-duty vehicles on the road over the next decade.
Recipients of the funding announced Wednesday include Boston Public Schools, which is receiving about $35 million to pay for 125 new electric school buses, and Saint Louis Public Schools, which the EPA awarded about $10 million [for] 30 new zero-emissions buses to transport students, according to the agency.
The incoming Trump administration is poised to significantly cut back the Biden administration’s spending on green initiatives upon taking power next month.
Accordingly, the Biden administration is reportedly hustling to disseminate billions of dollars through its various green programs before they run out of time and their successors can get the chance to shut off the cash spigot.
Read rest at Daily Caller
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