Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia toured Blue Bird’s Fort Valley plant, located south of Atlanta, and experienced a ride-and-drive on one of the company’s electric-powered Blue school buses.
“I grew up riding in Blue Bird school buses, and [I] am a product of the public school system. I can tell you the buses I rode back then were a lot louder than this electric bus,” said Warnock on Wednesday. “Some say that you can choose to invest to save the environment or jobs — but you can’t save jobs without saving the environment. With investment in electric school buses, we are poised to lead more into the sustainable energy future — the green energy job future. It’s good for the economy, it’s good for the air, and it’s certainly great for our children.”
Phil Horlock, president and CEO of Blue Bird Corporation, said via a press release that Blue Bird is excited to work with Warnock and other members of Congress to bring electric school buses to more districts across America.
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“Blue Bird is driving the school bus industry into a future built on reduced emissions and sustainable solutions, and we’re very happy to have Sen. Warnock view our leading technology firsthand and meet with our great team that produces these buses right here in Georgia, like we have done since 1927.” said Horlock.
In April, Warnock along with Sen. Alex Padilla of California and Reps. Tony Cárdenas (California) and Jahana Hayes (Connecticut), introduced the Clean Commute for Kids Act. The legislation proposes providing $25 billion over the next 10 years to fund the replacement of aging diesel buses with zero-emission electric school buses.
