Press Mention The Atlanta Journal-Constitution December 12, 2003
Topical Mention
'Green diesel' tested on yellow buses
In this mention
The article examines the environmental and health impacts of diesel-powered school buses in metro Atlanta, where virtually all 6,000 buses use diesel fuel. It discusses how schoolchildren are exposed to harmful particulate matter from bus emissions and explores the potential of low-emission buses and cleaner fuel alternatives to reduce pollution.
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'Green diesel' tested on yellow buses
Schools urged to spend on cleaner transportation
By STACY SHELTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some of metro Atlanta's worst polluters often can be found in front of a school.
Yellow school buses are Rockwellian in their American symbolism, but their diesel-powered engines spew millions of tiny carbon fragments into the air every time they run their routes, take a football team to a game or idle under a school's awning. In metro Atlanta, virtually all 6,000 school buses use diesel.
Ron Methier, air protection branch chief for the state Environmental Protection Division, said because of the buses, schoolchildren probably are exposed more than adults to particulate matter -- microscopic pollutants that can lodge deep inside lungs and work their way into the bloodstream. Public health officials say particle smog is unhealthy for children, the elderly and people with heart and respiratory diseases.
Jonathan Grant, a parent at Evansdale Elementary School, has a sixth-grade daughter who, as a safety patrol, spends a fair amount of time standing near buses. "There's nothing that says pollution like a diesel engine," he said.
A combination of low-emission buses and cleaner fuel that can vastly reduce