More and more studies show that exposure to diesel exhaust and other air pollutants can lead to heart and lung disease, the most common of these being asthma. Children are especially susceptible to developing such health problems because they breathe more air relative to their body weight than adults. Retrofitting school buses is a natural place to reduce children’s exposure to air pollutants, because on average kids spend more than an hour on a bus each school day.

Project Green Fleet is working with several state agencies and nonprofit organizations to provide school districts, parents and teachers with resources about air pollution and how to protect students from exposure to diesel emissions. The links and information below provide further information about Project Green Fleet and school bus pollution-reduction. For more general information on Twin Cities air quality, please visit the Clean Air Minnesota web site >

Recent studies illustrate the importance of Project Green Fleet's work. The Clean Air Task Force and the Izaak Walton League released a report titled, "Diesel Health in America: The Lingering Threat." In announcing its findings, a Clean Air Task Force scientist stated that, "data from EPA shows that diesel exhaust poses a greater risk of cancer than all the other air toxics EPA tracks combined." Read the report >

Another report published in Environmental Health Perspectives and sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found "strong and consistent evidence that daily changes in ambient ozone exposure are linked to premature mortality, even at very low pollution levels." The study concluded that efforts "to further reduce ozone pollution would benefit public health, even in regions that meet current regulatory standards and guidelines." Ozone pollution is more commonly known as smog, and diesel exhaust is a major contributor to ozone formation. Read the report >