(The Center square) – An Illinois state legislator says if the federal government is going to give away taxpayer money, it should go toward teaching children math and reading, not for electric school buses.
The Illinois State Board of Education announced last month that it had been awarded a $19.9 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
State Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, said electric buses aren’t green and actually destroy the environment.
“Our kids can’t read or write or do math, but they can ride on a green school bus that’s not really green,” said Miller.
Miller shared a story about an Illinois superintendent who was awarded electric buses but had to use a flatbed to haul the buses because there was concern the buses could not make the 50-mile trip to be transported to the school district.
“They had to transport those school buses on a flatbed because they were afraid that they wouldn’t be able to make the trip,” said Miller. “Almost any bus route, especially in rural Illinois, is several miles long. He [the superintendent] said it was a nightmare.”
The Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant program is dishing out more than $400 million of federal taxpayer funds to communities across the nation that have been designated as being in “non-attainment” with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
Miller suspects green energy initiatives, like CHDV, will come to a screeching halt after President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in.
“The people have spoken. They don’t want this stuff. It’s a complete scam, and yet they just can’t give it up,” Miller told The Center Square.
In a news release, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said through the CHDV Grant program, Illinois districts will receive electric school buses, charging infrastructure and workforce training to reduce emissions and improve air quality.
“With this funding, we’re building on our progress toward a more sustainable future by providing nine school districts with the resources to advance our clean energy goals,” Pritzker said in the news release.
Miller criticized the federal government overspending taxpayers’ money through the Inflation Reduction Act.
“It’s just another case of governing against the will of the people,” said Miller.
The nearly $20 million in taxpayer funds will be distributed to nine Illinois school districts and they will have to use the funds to replace 70 gas-powered school buses with electric buses.
