Mothers Out Front Westchester Rivertowns team showed up to speak for #ElectricSchoolBuses in their district! 15 moms were in the house and two are quoted in this article!

Two vol­un­teers for the group Moth­ers Out Front used the pub­lic com­ment por­tion of the Feb­ru­ary 13 Tar­ry­town School Board meet­ing to urge the Board to com­mit to a plan that would phase out diesel-pow­ered school buses in fa­vor of zero emis­sion elec­tric buses. Thir­teen other Moth­ers Out Front mem­bers were there to show sup­port.

Arline Se­gal, a res­i­dent of Sleepy Hol­low whose two grown sons were K-12 Tar­ry­town stu­dents, spoke about the dele­te­ri­ous health and en­vi­ron­men­tal im­pacts of diesel buses. Switch­ing to elec­tric, she con­tended, can re­duce a ve­hi­cle’s emis­sions by 70%, as elec­tric buses pro­duce no ex­haust. Cur­rently, stu­dents are ex­posed to high lev­els of par­tic­u­late mat­ter emit­ted from diesel ex­haust, which con­tains 40 chem­i­cals clas­si­fied as “haz­ardous air pol­lu­tants” un­der the Clean Air Act. These pol­lu­tants are linked to de­creased lung func­tion, res­pi­ra­tory ill­ness, can­cer, and poor school per­for­mance.

Mothers Out Front was proud to join our allies from the Last Chance Alliance to call for climate action in Sacramento on Wednesday, February 19th during Governor Gavin Newsom's State of the State Address.  

A group called Last Chance Alliance was among those represented at the rally and they want the governor to end all new fossil fuel projects in California, create a plan to phase out all drilling for crude oil and natural gas, and provide support people in related jobs most impacted by such a transition.

"Parents around the state are appalled that California allows fossil-fuel production right next door to where our children live, study and play--prioritizing fossil-fuel profits over the health of our children and communities," insisted Linda Hutchins-Knowles, Senior California Organizer for Mothers Out Front. 

Mothers Out Front South Bay/San Jose member, Jane Mulcaster is #inthenews at the Women's March in January!

In December, Rebecca Habermann got a letter-to-the-editor published in the Mercury News thanking local leaders for acting to decarbonize buildings: (click on the image below to see the letter online.)

In December, Martina Keim was quoted in a San José Spotlight article about youth, mothers, and other concerned residents advocating for increased funding for public transit at a recent Valley Transportation Authority board meeting: 

Earlier in the meeting, the students received support from the South Bay chapter of Mothers Out Front: Mobilizing for a Livable Climate.

“San Jose is expected to grow its population to 1.3 million,” coordinator Martina Keim said. “We are already experiencing a high density of traffic. And it is crucial for all of us to make this change now. It will help to reduce congestion, improve air quality and public health and go toward San Jose’s goal to be carbon free, since vehicle traffic is the leading source of carbon emissions.”

Congratulations to the San Diego Mothers Out Front Team for their first victory for cleaner emissions and for being #inthenews!

Supporters, led by a group of mothers, said the undertaking will combat the harmful health effects of emissions from diesel-powered buses that put residents at risk of respiratory diseases such as asthma. San Ysidro’s proximity to the busiest land border crossing in the Western Hemisphere has long led to poor air quality. 

“I’m happy to say we are committed to fighting climate change,” board member Antonio Martinez said. 

Local leaders of Mothers Out Front, a national coalition that works on the issue of climate change, said the district of about 4,200 students is the first to make a pledge to switch to zero-emission buses, though 15 districts in the state already started to use electric buses.

Read the whole story:

[embedlycard url="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/communities/south-county/story/2020-01-28/san-ysidro-school-district-commits-to-rolling-out-zero-emission-buses"]

With concerns from allies and Mothers Out Front Fairfax County that legislation backed by Dominion Energy to replace 1,050 dirty diesel-powered school buses won’t move fast enough;

“...grassroots organizations have countered with their own bill that addresses their chief concerns of climate change and children’s health by offering a pot of money for massive diesel-to-electric bus conversions by 2030 to school districts both in and beyond Dominion’s territory.

“On the whole, electric school buses, no matter how we get them in the state, are awesome,” said Bobby Monacella, co-leader of the Fairfax County chapter of Mothers Out Front. “But we saw a gap with the Dominion program and this is how we wanted to fix it. We want schools to be thinking about a plan.”

See the whole story:

[embedlycard url="https://energynews.us/2020/01/28/southeast/virginia-advocates-see-room-to-improve-on-dominions-electric-school-bus-plan/"]

Mothers Out Front in Fairfax County are #inthenews with their #CleanBuses4Kids campaign!

After years of urging county officials to take more substantial action to address climate change, local environmental advocates expressed excitement about FCPS introducing electric buses to its fleet.

The Fairfax County chapter of Mothers Out Front, a national climate justice advocacy network, launched a Clean Buses for Kids campaign to bring electric school buses to FCPS last August, just days before Dominion announced its statewide initiative.

“We applaud any addition of clean buses to Virginia’s fleet, and we are very happy that FCPS was awarded part of the Dominion pilot,” Mothers Out Front Fairfax County said in a statement. “At the same time, we will continue to advocate for a complete and equitable transition of Virginia’s school bus fleet by 2030.”

Read the whole story:

[embedlycard url="http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/articles/fairfax-county-to-get-first-zero-emission-electric-school-buses/article_9a26fb8e-3e30-11ea-8265-53c1be4406a8.html"]

With Mothers Out Front Somerville leading the way, a historical decision was made to emphasize repairing gas leaks!

For the first time in the City's history, Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and the Department of Infrastructure and Asset Management (IAM) have allowed National Grid to replace a gas main during the City's winter moratorium to expedite efforts to eradicate gas leaks in Somerville.

On January 13, National Grid began work to replace a century-old gas main on the eastern half of Pearl St. and Myrtle St. in East Somerville. Due to its age, the Pearl St. gas main is prone to leaks and had been identified as a priority for replacement by local officials as well as partners including the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, Mothers Out Front, and other community advocates.

Large gas leaks have been shown to accelerate climate change and compromise local environmental conditions. In his January 6 inaugural speech, Mayor Curtatone underscored the need for urgent action, citing efforts to reduce gas leaks as a priority for 2020 and commending the persistent leadership and advocacy of Mothers Out Front on this issue.

Read the whole story:

[embedlycard url="https://patch.com/massachusetts/somerville/somervilles-first-ever-winter-gas-main-replacement-gets-underway"]

Mothers Out Front Fairfax County are in the news with a #VIDEO report from WDVM about the Electric School Bus campaign! #CleanBuses4Kids

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (WDVM) — Last fall, Fairfax County sealed a deal with Dominion Energy to replace its diesel school buses with electric by 2030, thanks to the effort of Mothers Out Front Fairfax.

On Monday [Feb. 13], Mothers Out Front declared its support for Delegate Mark Keam’s (D-Va 35) bill, introduced in the Virginia House of Delegates last week, that would incentivize school districts across the state to make the switch to electric by 2030.

Mothers Out Front Fairfax Co-Leader Bobby Monacella says there are four times more school buses than transit buses in the United States. Fairfax County is home to the country’s second largest school bus fleet.