Last Monday Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency announced winners of two eco-friendly school bus rebate opportunities, another effort of the President's campaign for a ‘clean energy revolution’.
The School Bus Rebates awarded funding to replace old diesel buses with new, electric, diesel, gasoline, propane, or compressed natural gas school buses, designed to help to improve air quality in and around schools and communities.
In addition to the Government’s attempt for an environmentally conscious future, many Americans have begun their own search into clean energy alternatives, especially amidst rising gas prices.
November 2021, Congress also passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. The legislation promises efforts for a wide range of causes across the nation, with a particular emphasis in ‘tackling the climate crisis’ and ‘advancing environmental justice’.
Around the same time, the Southeast Metropolitan Planning Organization also began their own project to incorporate more electric vehicles into Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois communities.
SEMPO Executive Director Alex McElroy says the deal and the state of the economy inspired the push.
“I think our SEMPO board members are very aware of the volatility of oil rates,” said McElroy. “We saw a great push for electric vehicles, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure leading up to the bipartisan infrastructure law, so that was something on their minds when they were prioritizing projects for the year.”
The SEMPO Committee will speak at their monthly board meeting to discuss an update on the project.
“We had just wrapped up a stakeholder engagement where we identified specific stakeholders within the region that would be interested in electric vehicles and electric vehicle infrastructure,” said McElroy. “So as we wrap that up then we'll begin to form certain recommendations from their intentions of any future investments either into electric vehicles or electric vehicle chargers for their businesses.”
McElroy says that the project is intended to be comprehensive in providing community members and public transportation services with clean energy alternatives.
“We want to make sure that as deployment of infrastructure becomes more prevalent within the community that it's also done in an equitable way,” said McElroy. “Studies have shown that 80% of people that drive electric vehicles do their charging at home, but only about two-thirds of homeowners actually have access to a garage or carport. So we want to make sure that people that decide to invest in electric vehicles feel comfortable that they'll have convenient access to a charger.”
The committee meets on March 16th at Cape Girardeau’s Osage Center to discuss updates on the project and its investors.
