There’s no warning sign on the back of diesel school buses that the black smoke coming out of the tailpipe could be hazardous to children’s health – but there should be. Diesel fumes can cause or exacerbate asthma, lung disease, and cancer, and have even been linked to premature death.

UCS’s report, School Bus Pollution Report Card 2006, assesses the pollution performance of school buses by state, gives grades for soot pollution (the most important criteria in assessing the risk to child health), then ranks efforts to clean up their bus fleets as well as the level of smog pollution. While the distribution of grades varies across the country, all states rely upon high-polluting school buses, primarily fueled by diesel, to transport children. Cleaner alternatives do exist from replacing older buses with natural gas or cleaner diesel, to cleaning up newer buses with retrofits. School districts need additional federal assistance getting cleaner buses into our communities. Click here for some personal stories from schools that took part in the most recent grant cycle of the Environmental Protection Agency’s excellent, but underfunded, Clean School Bus USA program.
STATE |
SOOT POLLUTION GRADE |
CLEANUP PROGRAM RANK |
SMOG POLLUTION RANK |
Alabama |
B |
Poor |
Above Average |
Alaska |
B |
Above Average |
Above Average |
Arizona |
D |
Above Average |
Poor |
Arkansas |
D |
Poor |
Poor |
California |
C |
Good |
Poor |
Colorado |
D |
Above Average |
Poor |
Connecticut |
B |
Above Average |
Above Average |
Delaware |
B |
Incomplete |
Above Average |
District of Columbia |
B |
Incomplete |
Above Average |
Florida |
C |
Poor |
Average |
Georgia |
C |
Above Average |
Average |
Hawaii |
D |
Incomplete |
Poor |
Idaho |
C |
Incomplete |
Average |
Illinois |
C |
Average |
Average |
Indiana |
B |
Average |
Above Average |
Iowa |
C |
Above Average |
Above Average |
Kansas |
C |
Incomplete |
Incomplete |
Kentucky |
C |
Poor |
Average |
Louisiana |
D |
Incomplete |
Poor |
Maine |
B |
Above Average |
Above Average |
Maryland |
B |
Poor |
Above Average |
Massachusetts |
B |
Average |
Above Average |
Michagan |
C |
Poor |
Average |
Minnesota |
D |
Average |
Poor |
Mississippi |
C |
Average |
Poor |
Missouri |
B |
Average |
Above Average |
Montana |
D |
Poor |
Poor |
Nebraska |
D |
Average |
Poor |
Nevada |
B |
Above Average |
Above Average |
New Hampshire |
C |
Poor |
Average |
New Jersey |
B |
Poor |
Above Average |
New Mexico |
C |
Poor |
Average |
New York |
B |
Above Average |
Above Average |
North Carolina |
C |
Above Average |
Average |
North Dakota |
C |
Poor |
Poor |
Ohio |
C |
Average |
Average |
Oklahoma |
D |
Incomplete |
Poor |
Oregon |
C |
Above Average |
Average |
Pennsylvania |
B |
Average |
Above Average |
Rhode Island |
C |
Average |
Average |
South Carolina |
D |
Above Average |
Poor |
South Dakota |
D |
Incomplete |
Poor |
Tennessee |
B |
Average |
Above Average |
Texas |
C |
Above Average |
Average |
Utah |
D |
Poor |
Poor |
Vermont |
C |
Incomplete |
Average |
Virginia |
C |
Average |
Average |
Washington |
D |
Good |
Poor |
West Virginia |
C |
Poor |
Average |
Wisconsin |
C |
Average |
Average |
Wyoming |
B |
Incomplete |
Above Average |