The big green school bus

My daughter, Emily, had orientation at her new school today. And even though she won't be riding the bus (we live two blocks from the school and will walk), one of the things that all of the children had to practice was how to line up and wait for the school bus. This got me thinking about an article that I read a few years ago about bus idling.

According to a Yale University study, children who ride a school bus are exposed to up to 15 times more particulate pollution than average. The study found that the increased exposure was caused by the practice of bus idling or allowing the buses to line up and idle in front of the schools while waiting to pick up students.

Idling buses fill up with harmful fumes and particulate pollution that stay with the kids throughout their ride. What's worse, the buses waste gas, contribute to air pollution, and release the carbon dioxide emissions that are responsible for global warming.

That's bad news for all of us, especially the 24 million American children who ride a school bus each day. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has developed the Clean School Bus USA program to inform schools about the problem and help them develop a policy to ban bus idling.

But at Emily's school, no such policy yet exists. I asked the principal and her teachers about it today and was met with a puzzled yet curious response. They had never thought of it before but were interested in hearing more.

So I directed them to the EPA's official Clean School Bus USA website for more information. And you can bet I'll follow up at the next PTA meeting.

Jenn Savedge's blog posts are provided by LifeWire, a part of The New York Times Company.