Nevada is getting a big chunk of change from a settlement with Volkswagen, following the automaker's major emissions scandal. The company is paying a multi-billion dollar settlement, which is getting divided among the states.
Nevada is getting nearly $25 million in the settlement, but there's a catch. That money has to be used for some sort of emissions reduction project, and some are hoping that will mean a new fleet of all-electric school buses.
"To have another key point of our community's transportation-- electric buses, school buses, that just adds into the menu of what Nevada could be doing to improve our environment and our economy," Southwest Energy Efficiency Project representative Tom Polikalas said.
The new, high-tech school buses carry a steeper price tag than traditional ones, but supporters say school districts would make up that difference quickly through savings on fuel and less required maintenance.
They also come equipped with seatbelts, unlike most school buses currently in use in Nevada. Plus, there's the added benefit that electric buses are better for air quality and the environment.
"When we talk about air pollution, looking at greenhouse gases, looking at all those criteria pollutants that are bad for our health," Clean Energy Project State Policy Adviser Jennifer Taylor said, "tailpipe emissions are now one of the largest pieces of that. So this is a fantastic step."
There is a bill (AB416) going through the legislature now that would pave the way to use that money for electric school buses, but it hasn't gotten a vote yet. If the bill passes, it's not guaranteed that the money would go to school buses; it could also go to other programs that would reduce emissions in Nevada, but electric school buses are on the table.
