 Well, let's go ahead and get started Welcome to our briefing today back to school catalyzing climate action in K through 12 schools I'm Dan Berset. I'm the executive director of the environmental and energy study Institute And I'm joined here today by many of my colleagues Some are out at the table some are here in the room So if you see anybody wearing a pin like this and you have broader questions about climate change topics that you would like to have answered or or anything like that Please feel free to track us down and we look forward to the networking opportunity afforded by an in-person congressional briefing We're on Capitol Hill today. We have an in-person audience. We're also webcasting. So we have an online audience as well Really really excited about being up here and you know all of the all of the fun dynamics that you can really only get At an in-person event. I'd like to isn't tight I'd like to start by thanking three members of Congress who are our sponsors for today I'd like to thank representative Scott chairman Scott Representative Tonco and representative Pingree for all of the work that they put into helping us pull off today's session ESI Was founded in 1984 on a bipartisan basis by members of Congress to provide policymaker educational resources to Congress members of Congress and their staff about environmental and energy topics and in 1988 our focus was Was narrowed even more and also broadened to climate change and so since then that's what we've been focused on Briefings are a big part of what we do, but they're not all of it. What we do In addition to our federal policy work We also work with rural utilities that are working to improve access and affordability for energy efficiency and electrification we do articles and issue briefs and fact sheets and podcasts and meetings and all sorts of Additional forms of educational resources and everything that we produce is available for free online at www.esi.org if you haven't already checked it out I'm my guess is that there's something there that you find interesting On a topic that you're tracking or your boss is tracking And the best thing to do to keep up with all of our work is to subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter Which is called climate change solutions the latest issue was yesterday We had a lot of coverage of the Kigali amendment ratification in the Senate something that we were we really welcome Something that was long overdue, but we also had other articles about other climate change topics, so It's a great resource the one right after Labor Day was all about IRA programs and with a specific emphasis on those that will benefit rural areas I like to do a couple plugs at the top of our briefings just so that everybody knows what's coming up next The next four briefings we have will be focused on the UNF triple C the United Nations framework convention on climate change 27th conference of parties so cop 27 you might be reading about that We're going to do four briefings starting October 12th on key findings from the newest global assessment report on climate change Natural climate solutions climate change loss and damage and what's on the table for negotiations You can sign up for the whole series at once and the best way to do that is to visit us online at www.esi.org Sign up it's going to be really really good and then after cop We're going to have a recap where we're going to do a briefing where we can look back and try to figure out what all of that means for For Congress in particular How do we how does one of the kinds of policies and investments needed for the United States to live up to our international commitments? but today We are all about schools all about cat catalyzing climate action in K through 12 schools and we have Four tremendous panelists join us today In addition to our briefing We have a little bit of a field trip after We're going to go at 430 We're going to walk down and check out an electric school bus an actual a retrofitted Electric school bus or repowered electric school bus. It used to be powered on diesel now It runs on electricity So if you want to do that stick around and we'll lead a delegation down to over by the Botanic Gardens on Maryland Avenue But before we get to that we're going to have our panelists schools I think most of us attended school Or had some interaction with school or who had parents who went to school or drive by a school or see kids waiting for the bus Schools are parts of our communities. They're educational Institutions, but they're also community centers their places where people gather they host events. They're really really important parts of our community They provide community resilience. They provide sustainability Their opportunities to be good stewards of our environment and they provide hands-on learning like going to visit electric school buses And our four panelists today will cover climate action in K through 12 schools from different perspectives They'll talk about electrification. They'll talk about building energy efficiency and resilience They'll take talk about food waste and I think across the presentations There'll be a strong through line of how we can do all of those things in an equitable way So that students of all backgrounds and all geographies have an opportunity to the same learning experiences So with that I'm going to introduce our one of our hosts for today Representative chilly Pingree in 2008 Representative Pingree was elected to Congress from Maine's first congressional district She was the first woman elected to Congress from that district. She's previously served in the House Rules Committee and Armed Services Committee She currently sits on the House Appropriations Committee chairing the subcommittee on interior in the environment Sitting on the subcommittee on agriculture and subcommittee on military construction veterans affairs She's also a member of the House Agriculture Committee. She's a former Maine State Senator and small state State Senate Majority Leader. She's a farmer and a small business owner And she's joining us today by pre-recorded marks to welcome everyone to our briefing Hi, I'm Congresswoman Shelly Pingree Everyone joining us here today has one very important thing in common We want to ensure a habitable planet now and for future generations That's why I came to Congress and I take comfort in knowing that there are so many dedicated people who are united in that mission From farming practices to food waste. You can't talk about the climate crisis without talking about our food system Food loss and waste has a significant greenhouse gas footprint The production, transportation and handling of food generates significant carbon dioxide emissions And when food ends up in landfills, it generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas This connection between food waste and our changing climate is becoming increasingly important The United States wastes a staggering amount of food The World Wildlife Fund estimates 360,000 to 530,000 tons of food is wasted in American schools each year Costing the federal government as much as 1.7 billion annually and emitting almost 2 million metric tons of greenhouse gases Rather than ending up in landfills, these meals should be feeding our students The school system offers a tremendous opportunity for students to think outside the box to reduce hunger and cut greenhouse gas emissions But they need the resources to do so That's why I introduced the School Food Recovery Act, which would create a grant program to help schools achieve food waste reduction goals This would encourage schools to pursue food waste measurement and reporting prevention, education and reduction projects As you know, today the White House is hosting a conference on hunger, nutrition and health The first government-led conference of its kind in over 50 years The 1969 Hunger Conference led to transformational legislation to combat hunger in America Creating crucial programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP And the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, also known as WIC But think about how much the world and the hunger crisis has changed since the year we put a man on the moon 1969 As hunger and malnutrition rates continue to rise I'm hopeful this 21st century high-level conference will once again spur whole of government action to ensure all Americans have reliable access to healthy food and Put us closer to our domestic goal to have food loss and waste by 2030 As co-chair of the Bipartisan Food Recovery Caucus I have long recognized that food waste reduction is a win-win, bringing both environmental and economic benefits I also introduced the Kids Eat Local Act, a bipartisan bill to allow schools the purchasing flexibility to support local farmers and increase the access to local healthy foods in our schools Promoting new business for farmers while providing our children with nutritious lunches made from the ingredients grown in their backyards This bill can also help reduce on-farm food waste while bringing fresh produce to our schools I'm proud to use my role as a member of both the House Agriculture Committee and the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture Rural Development Food and Drug Administration to push forward initiatives that increase awareness about food waste and prevention methods. The K-12 education system offers a great opportunity to work collaboratively with creative educators, school nutrition professionals and students to both reduce food waste in schools and build lifelong habits that will reduce food loss and waste Thank you for having me today I'm honored to be your partner in Congress as we work to build a more sustainable, resilient and equitable future Thanks to Representative Pingree and her great staff for helping make her participation possible today And she ended on a lot of the same notes, sustainable, resilient, equitable, a lot of the themes that our panelists will talk about In addition to our panelists presentations that you're about to see, we'll also have a question and answer period So for folks online, you can send us an email at ask at ask at esi.org That's ask at esi.org send us an email with your question You can also follow us on Twitter at EESI online for staff in the room If you have a question when we get there, please raise your hand and we'll come around with a mic and we'll take your question that way One last thing you're about to see four great presentations if you want to revisit them This will be this webcast will be archived on our website if you want to review any presentation materials Those will also be posted on the website. So and we have lots of materials out on the front desk But without any further ado, I'm going to introduce our first panelist today Laura shifter is a senior fellow with the Aspen Institute's energy and environment program leading this is planet Ed Which aims to unlock the power of the education sector to be a force towards climate action solutions and environmental justice Laura is also a lecturer on education with the Harvard graduates going of education where she teaches courses on federal policy and special education She has served as a senior education and disability advisor for representative George Miller who's back there On the committee of education and labor and an education fellow for senator Chris Dodd in the Senate health education labor and pensions committee After she graduated from college. She was a she taught elementary school in San Francisco. Laura. Welcome to our briefing today I'm looking forward to your presentation Great. Thank you so much and thank you to ESI for hosting this briefing and all the sponsors I do feel slightly nervous about my former boss being over my shoulder, but No, really happy to be here to talk about catalyzing climate action in K-12 schools So just to share with you a little bit about why we started K-12 climate action, which is a part of this is planet Ed several years ago We recognize that at a systems level the education sector has not really been vocal in its role in addressing climate change And likewise climate solutions often leave out the role that education can play But there's both a big need and an opportunity to engage the education sector in the fight on climate change There's a need because with nearly a hundred thousand schools across the country Our schools are among the largest consumers of energy in the public sector They operate the largest mass transit fleet in the public sector with 480,000 school buses they serve 7 billion meals a year annually Often in communities. They're the largest real estate owners largest employers. Our schools are really large public sector And as public entities, they need the support of policy to decarbonize and transition And there's also a critical opportunity with 50 million Americans enrolled in our public schools as we Decarbonize as we integrate climate solutions into students lived experience that help helps give them the opportunity to engage with climate solutions firsthand And empower them to be the leaders in a sustainable future ahead So recognizing this opportunity to really help support the education sector and understanding its role in addressing climate change Two years ago. We launched the K-12 climate commission climate action commission Which is co-chaired by former education secretary John King and former governor and EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman. We brought together leaders across the education field climate researchers students People on the ground to really come together to learn about the needs and opportunities to engage the education sector On issues related to climate change and I'll just next we have a short video from our commissioners talking about why this issue matters to them As an educator and as the father of two daughters And I worry a lot about the world that we are leaving our young people It is a world deeply damaged by our reliance on fossil fuels and the question is how do we move forward from here? I can't imagine a future for my daughter where she doesn't have access or opportunities To connect with the land the same way I did because of climate change I realized that if I want my daughters to be able to have the choice to live in South Florida 30 40 50 years from now we're going to have to take action when I served as mayor of New Orleans. I Witness the impact of climate change directly It came with the increasing intensity of Hurricanes and floods when I see the climate crisis I see it putting so much pressure and weight on people's ability to just like exist As they are We know that the impact on the environment has a real significant Impact on children's ability to learn This is the moment where we have to make a decisive Commitment to create the cleaner future that can stave off the worst impacts of climate change Inequity is the challenge of our lifetime and the only way that we're going to overcome These inequities in our society is through the future leaders that we have in schools I am very concerned about climate change and I recognize that schools offer us a huge opportunity the Education establishment is a very large industry and there's a lot that can be done in the places I'm from quality climate education could make such a difference in people's lives and I would really love to make that happen in my lifetime public schools Can prepare and have to prepare our kids for the high wage high skilled jobs in A new clean economy our students are our future the leaders of tomorrow are being educated in our classrooms today Why would we not want them involved in the climate dialogue right now? But of an overview of some of the perspectives of our commissioners and really what drove them to this work Oh Wait, there we go So our commission really focused on four primary areas of which schools can take action on climate change We thought about mitigation and what our education sector needs to do to reduce its environmental footprint Adaptation and how our schools can adapt and build resilience to climate impacts ahead Education opportunities to support to teaching and learning to help students understand climate change and climate solutions And thinking about all of this through a lens of equity recognizing the disparate impacts that both climate change and education and equities have On communities of color under resourced urban and rural communities and thinking about how we can center those perspectives in the work ahead Our commission held a listening tour to hear from people on the ground around what was going on in communities all across the country and we Heard about lots of different opportunities We heard about districts switching to renewable energy that top ones Dallas Switching to new renewable energy and saving this school district a million dollars each year We heard about students pushing their schools school boards to pass clean energy resolutions and those clean energy resolution resolutions passing unanimously We heard about New York City and Montgomery County right over here committing to transition their electric Or they're currently diesel school bus fleet all to electric and one of the things that we saw which was really Interesting is school districts moving in a direction of developing climate action plans a lot of our jurisdictions School districts are separate jurisdictions than cities and cities across the country have developed these climate action plans School districts are a little bit behind and we've started to see some school districts developing those climate action plans Last year our commission released an action plan With recommendations for what local school districts state governments federal government can do to really help support schools and taking action on climate change And one of the grounding features of the recommendations in the action plan, which we have some copies of outside to Is to really support local school districts in developing these climate action plans It provides an opportunity for them to create a central place and planning mechanisms to do things around mitigation adaptation education and equity And really drive work all together So a key recommendation is that local school districts develop these climate action plans and one of the federal policy recommendations that we have is the opportunity for the federal government to provide support for school districts in developing these Climate action plans. I think the federal government's done a great job in providing some opportunities for school districts to access funding On areas like electric school buses that we'll hear about soon But this could create a centralized place where school districts can develop a plan Leverage funding from different resources and really help mobilize something for action in their communities So that's a bit about what our schools can do I look forward to your questions ahead and I will now Give the clicker right to sue We had a couple people. Thank you Laura first of all that was great presentation And like you said you have some reports out on the front table also available online I assume and when we're walking to the school bus Maybe you have any sort of networking questions for folks in or from folks in the room you can Talk with Laura a little bit We had a couple people join us I just wanted to say a quick couple quick things one is we're gonna have a Q&A session So for folks joining us online didn't hear this before if you have a question You can send it to us by email at ask ask at ESI org folks in the room We're gonna have a microphone go around the room So if you have any questions about what our panelists are talking about or Climate action schools more generally, please feel free to start thinking of what that question might be Also, Laura's presentation Sue's presentation to everybody's presentations along with the webcast and other materials would be available online at So if you've missed anything good news You didn't miss anything you can go back and check it out and in a couple weeks We'll have some really great summary notes, too So you can use that as a resource as you're answering your boss's questions That brings us to our second panelist Sue Gander Sue is the director of the electric school bus initiative at the World Resources Institute She leads a cross-organizational team in advancing the goal of electrifying the US fleet 480,000 school buses by 2030 with a focus on equity and inclusion Prior to WRI Sue was managing director of policy for the electrification coalition where she led policy and advocacy efforts We'll electrify transportation at scale So it was previously the director of the energy Infrastructure and environment direct division at the National Governance Association Which at one point involved me going to anchorage with you to do a financing presentation And she and that was for more than a decade She spearheaded spearheaded work on transportation electrification power sector modernization in these ends Sue take it away Great. Thank you Dan, and I want to add my thanks to ESI and to the sponsors and to everyone here and online that's listening to this and bringing attention to Both the issue of climate change as well as the issue of schools and the many ways that you just heard about a little bit from From Laura about how they can contribute to the solution. I don't think we have to look too far beyond the storm that's currently Bearing down on Florida as well as this this summer and ongoing that the heatwaves and the floods And the wildfires to just remind us about why this work is really so important So I'm thrilled to say a little bit more about the elective school bus portion of this First just a little bit more about the World Resources Institute I'm here as the director of one of our programs like the school bus initiative, but we're a global think tank Working across multiple countries with about 1700 staff. You saw our US director Featured on the video earlier. It gives you a taste of it We're here dedicated to solving some of the world's toughest challenges Including climate change and if you want to know who the WRI people are We're the ones with these little pins that are flashing if you want one we'll come talk to you as we walk to the bus So the elective school bus initiative is a it's an ambitious equity focused five-year effort We're supported by the basis earth fund and our aim is listed up there It's to create the unstoppable momentum to electrify equitably the entire school bus fleet That's important to the more than 20 million kids that ride the bus to school each day But really to all of us. I do want to acknowledge that we're working You know kind of on the shoulders of many organizations that have been working on this topic For some time it's like chi spa and mom's clean air force and mother's out front and Sierra club and many others That have been you know in the trenches Building the case for this and we're happy to partner with them And continue this work really excited to be working with school districts including Baltimore city With manufacturers with school bus contractors utilities Financing groups and of course policy makers like all of you It's definitely going to take all of us working together to tackle this I'll say a little bit about the decarbonization opportunity School buses are part of the larger transportation sector Which as you know is the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in this country and 90 of the current fleet of School buses are diesel that emit more than twice the amount of greenhouse gases as electric school buses And that's after accounting for those emissions from the grid Which as we know thanks to all the great work that's being done on renewables Is becoming More and more carbon free every day. So really excited about that opportunity But we're also excited about an opportunity of a full host of other benefits And I think at the top of this list are things like air quality and and health impacts and we also see tremendous opportunity for savings in the fuel and operation of the buses with Something on the order of four thousand to eleven thousand dollars Savings per year per bus which can really add up And then there's opportunities for new green jobs in this sector, which we're excited about as well If you want to say a little bit more about the air quality and the health impacts Diesel fumes have proven links to some serious physical health issues as well as cognitive developments and The diesel exists from the school buses contribute to the ambient pollution more broadly as well So as these buses travel throughout the neighborhoods, um, they're doing that pollution as well But in contrast electric school buses are tailpipe emissions free Another important aspect of the air pollution is the The way that it's distributed and how it is Disproportionately impacting kids from low-income families and communities of color Part of this is because it's those kids that are more likely to be riding the bus because they don't have alternatives To bring them to school And then you know on top of that kids with disabilities ride longer on the buses So thinking about electrifying the entire fleet of school buses is really how we can help address Both these health issues as well as the inequities that we're facing But where are we? We are just beginning in this process. We have the four hundred and eighty thousand school buses less than three percent of this are electric But we're seeing amazing momentum And you see there and i'll show later We've got elective school buses in 38 states and looking forward to having that number Row as we have the investments from the various different federal programs and state programs coming forward This curve just indicates how far we've come in a short amount of time from the first school buses that came into operation in 2014 in california and now we're up to Over 12,000 12,700 electric school buses that we are counting at wi as either committed Either procured or delivered or in operation So we're really excited to see that trend line. The reason for that really dramatic jump there is because Of repower buses actually a group called c electric and midwest transit have made a commitment to Repower 10,000 school buses over the next five years. So we're really excited about that and as you've heard you'll get a chance to see Um a school bus from unique electric solutions and logon bus company If you join us for our little stroll later, um, this gives you the kind of Geographic distribution of buses now. Um, what you'll see is that, you know, they are spread across the country I think what we think is important here is this shows that electric school buses are of interest and are operating in all sorts of conditions You have everything from speaking of alaska poke alaska to phoenix, arizona. So all sorts of climates geographies suburban areas urban areas rural areas as well And i'm excited to see that grow as I said as we as we move forward So what about supply? Um, we've demonstrated there's definitely some demand there. We see manufacturing scaling up over time This is a map that shows where some of those locations are and some of the ways that um companies are expanding The manufacturers are looking at this demand and increasing the building out there of plants Um, and a lot of the supply is located increasingly in places in the u.s. Or already was here Um, and we're seeing new uh new jobs and and new um plants coming into places like georgia Illinois, west virginia So that's really exciting as part of this momentum as well and One estimate puts the number of jobs coming just from the investments from the bipartisan infrastructure law alone at adding another 46 000 job years Through the investments in new clean school buses. So very excited about that as well We're seeing a whole host of new models come online. This is an excerpt from a buyer's guide and market report that we did That just shows how um, there's more and more options available that are going to meet those needs of you know school districts depend, you know, no matter where they are in terms of The types of buses that they have or what they're looking for in terms of performance I'll say a little bit about repowers Just so you know a little bit more what it is and the experts who are here can share more It's really essentially taking a existing vehicle and then Replacing the original engine with a new electric drive crane Any advantages there that are attractive or that can be nearly half the price of a newly manufactured vehicle They can be put together more quickly And then you can work that into your existing fleet. So we're excited to see the progress that's being made there Um, and I'd say we're probably ecstatic if that was exciting excited We're ecstatic about the new federal clean school bus program and for anyone in this room that was working on that We want to say thank you for that. It's really been a huge game changer As we've dedicated our work to this if you probably know, there's a Funding stream of 2.5 billion dedicated solely to electric school buses and then another 2.5 billion That's allotted for school buses that could include electric We're really pleased to see how quickly the EPA who administers this have worked to move this first round of funding Out the door and we're definitely looking forward to continuing to support the program And advance both the electric portion as well as the focus on equity I'll just Briefly either remind or inform folks about what this looks like. So we have the first round of funding Under the program is coming in the form of a rebate And this is particularly helpful because that's going to be a really speedy way to get the funds to the school districts The first application period ended on august 19th and for There are folks in the room like Hannah who are waiting to hear anxiously how that goes We're looking forward in the coming weeks to hearing about the first lottery. Um, and what we're hearing About the application process is that there was an overwhelming demand for this funding. So A great job again on seeing where there's a need And we certainly are looking forward to continuing to work with this program and continue to enhance it as we go forward There's a pretty substantial amount of funding available for those For for everyone that applies, but the funding pops out at A hefty 375 thousand dollars per bus with an additional 20 thousand For infrastructure Really critical to really help move us beyond where we're at now and help us get to scale in the manufacturing So those prices continue to come down Also exciting as well And i'm sure for many of you here are what's in the inflation reduction act I can talk more a little bit about that but there's a great funding program as well as a really generous tax rebate that allows school districts as tax exempt entities to participate in this as well And then finally, um, I have to say word um, given my roots here in state policy about the state policy momentum Um, it's a great compliment to what we're seeing federally And of note in the last year is the start of we'd like to say a string of transition targets on the first one coming from New york that set a hundred percent new school bus full for sales by 2027 and all school bus is transitioned by 2035 and that was followed by Connecticut maryland main and the whole host of other policy measures as well that have been really critical to Just to continue this It's progress and one key piece about many of those funding programs is that they Prioritize equity and prioritize environmental justice areas in terms of thinking about who is available You get the funding first we'll get at least a portion of the funding dedicated to them. So With that I will just Invite you to Get on board the electric school bus movement and get aboard our little our little walking group that's gonna down and see the bus as well Thanks, sue and just for those who came in a little late We are gonna have a walk about we're gonna walk down To visit in a repowered electric school bus that's done by the botanic gardens Get a chance to you know Do the wheels go round and round the wipers go swish swish swish We'll really you know test it out and make sure that this thing is up the snuff. So we're really looking forward to that There's a flyer about it as well in case you need to with Some of the lists of organizations including wr that will be that possible Our third panelist today is Pete Pearson Pete is the senior director of food loss and waste at the world wildlife institute or excuse me world wildlife fund leading WWF's work on reducing food loss and waste in schools Pete works on food waste prevention and food recovery Helping businesses understand the intersection of agriculture and wildlife conservation For almost a decade. He has been working as a change agent within various businesses and nonprofits on regenerative agriculture sustainability and corporate social responsibility Pete welcome to the briefing Thank you to ESSI for having me. Thanks to all of you for being here and I wanted to start by just telling you how I started my journey I started with world wildlife fund seven years ago And was called upon to create this global program for reducing food loss and waste WWF's mission is to ensure a future where both people and nature thrive That's always been our mission. We've been on the front lines of this for well many many decades And preserving the last remaining habitat on our planet the panda logo one of the most recognized brands in the world And one of the largest conservation organizations globally Uh, sadly, we are losing in our efforts to save nature The evidence shows that human impact on our planet is not up for debate We can take pictures of forests and grasslands and we see that each year there is less and less habitat for nature What is clearly not understood or recognized is the cause for this loss of rain forests and habitat like grasslands And the collapse of ocean and freshwater ecosystem When we lose these precious habitats, we lose them to agriculture the food production of fuel food and fiber It is our food system that is responsible for upwards of 70 percent or more of the biodiversity loss on our planet If we are to create this sustainable and regenerative future We have to recognize that our food system and agriculture is the major contributor to climate and biodiversity loss issues But therefore becomes an imperative to address the inefficiencies in our food system and agriculture systems And that's why we care so deeply about an issue like food loss and waste With agriculture impacting so much globally It's an absolute tragedy that we waste between 30 to 40 percent of everything we produce While unestimated keep this in mind 800 million plus people globally are food insecure Furthermore, we know that methane emissions from landfills are the third largest source of methane emissions globally and in the us Go back and represent an incredible loss of nutrients and raw materials that can be repurposed back into our food system These are things that just go needlessly into holes in the ground So in 2016 wwf began the development of our food waste warrior program Which set out to support efforts to turn the cafeteria into a classroom Uh over the last five years, we have tested a number of interventions for school waste reduction We have worked with dozens of organizations in over 30 states including Puerto Rico And in 2009, we published a food waste warrior report showcasing the many the many interventions and key learnings that we've had Our ambition is to see that food system education and foods linked to climate impact becomes institutionalized in k through 12 programs Curriculum like our food waste warrior program where students learn about the impacts of the food system by simply becoming aware of how much they waste Should be a fundamental building block for every student in k through 12 Furthermore investing into this education has the potential to get students excited about the sciences When students are encouraged to lead and participate in hands-on learning We excited potential future for chefs for farmers for plant biologists and for soil scientists These jobs in the biological sciences will be critical to our future in the 21st century If we are to address the biodiversity and climate crisis I feel strongly that growing this momentum and creating the cafeteria as a classroom May be one of the most important classes that any student will take With so much at stake, we can't afford to have future generations uneducated about the food system and its link to climate change And the best and least confrontational way we have to educate students on the impact of that Is to get them analyzing food waste to have them become better leaders on waste reduction in their schools and in their community Even better the issue of food waste is an issue We've seen collaboration from Republicans and Democrats on bipartisanship How many issues in this from people in this room? Can we truly say that there is bipartisan support? I think it's one we should take a hold of One of the most inspirational stories I'd like to leave you with is work that was led by students in Maryland Who organized a postcard writing campaign after being involved with our food waste warrior program? within just a couple months Students sent over 5,000 postcards to state legislators and were successful in getting new legislation passed to tackle food waste This to me is truly inspiring We want to see that more students become leaders and advocates for issues like waste reduction And think establishing the cafeteria as a classroom could be a big catalyst for action I'm encouraged by future a future where students and youth engagement are supported Imagine the story of Maryland being adopted by all 50 states and imagine the types of acceleration of change we could see It's truly something that gives me hope. Thank you Thank you, Pete. That was a great presentation Our fourth panelist is Joanna piece in your Joanna is a sustainability analyst for Baltimore City Public Schools She helped develop and now implement the school district sustainability plan which aims to increase students environmental literacy Create healthy school environments and decrease environmental impacts Two years ago, Baltimore City Public Schools unveiled two new net zero school buildings as part of their sustainability initiative And she's here to tell us all about the really cool stuff happening about 45 minutes to the north So welcome to our panel. I'll turn it over to you. Thank you very much and thank you to everyone for coming and joining us today Uh, as you said, I'm with Baltimore City Public Schools right up the road And just to give you a little bit of context. We are a large urban district. We have almost 78,000 kids We have about 155 buildings We have a high needs population. So, uh, we have a community eligibility lunch program so all of our students qualify for free lunch And we have a growing number of English language learners and a majority african-american student population I'm going to be talking just broadly about three of our sustainability projects that we are working on that are sort of the Three main pieces of it. So the first is about our policy and our plan The second is about the buildings themselves and the third is about our kids So the policy was first passed by our board in 2016 and that is a broad document that has a lot of grand goals and really what the nitty gritty work is left to the sustainability plan which is a staff level document and is something that we have worked to Meet with lots of different people throughout the district and partners and stakeholders to figure out What are we actually going to be trying to do and how are we going to measure that and how are we going to report on that? Because as a district if something is not quantified and reported on it often doesn't happen So, um, these are the six categories of our work and pretty much it really encompasses everybody So we view it as something that is not just in you know, I'm based in our operations office But it's not just an operations program. It really uh crosses all of our programming So we try and look at all of our sustainability work through an equity lens and so We are dealing in baltimore as we are dealing with in our country and in our state all over with the compounding effects of racism So one example that it's quite clear in baltimore Is about our tree canopy and our temperatures. So these are three maps of baltimore city And the map on the left is our tree canopy. So the darker the green the more trees there are The middle map is our is a temperature map on a hot summer day The darker the color the hotter the temperature The map on the right is the uh redlining map from the 1930s and the purple and colors Towards the center there are the areas where uh home owners, you know, african-americans were not eligible for home loans So we now have a situation where people who were not allowed to buy homes Now have much hotter temperatures worse air quality because there are fewer trees So it's a process day after day that we are working to combat And as other panelists have said, we know that zip code is incredibly important For what your health status may be and that these burdens are borne disproportionately by people of color and lower income people So in the sustainability world, you'll hear a lot about the seven generations ahead And while I think that is incredibly important and we obviously have to be thinking about that We also need to be talking about today because we have uh, you know, baltimore has one of the highest rates of asthma Anywhere in the country and drastically higher than anywhere else in maryland So as we are building these the policy and the plan We are looking to really build a network of people and try to figure out where the overlaps can be and say We all each department has its own goals, you know, they're trying to teach math or they're doing the social emotional learning Or they are, you know, trying to save energy But how does that all fit together with sustainability and we think there's a lot of overlap for pretty much every department across our district So we have lots of efforts of, you know, supporting our teachers Reducing isolation sharing best practices talking to anyone and everyone who is at all interested in this work The second piece is about our building So we have millions of square feet of buildings. We use a lot of electricity. We create a lot of trash We, you know, we just have a big impact on the earth. So how can we try and reduce that? As you mentioned, we have two net zero energy buildings. Those are buildings that over the course of a year As much energy is used in the building is created and generated on site so we have two buildings that are have complete solar on the roof and very energy efficient inside And we are just really excited about them. They opened in 2020, which the timing was a little challenging But they are now operating and certified as net zero and we really feel like The reason we were able to succeed in that is because we had built that foundation and really talked with a lot of people And then we also just were very lucky. We had great timing that we had two school buildings that we had funding for But hadn't yet entered design when there was funding available through the state of maryland We also have a program called the 21st century schools program We have some of the oldest school buildings in the state of maryland. So we have been Very fortunate through a lengthy advocacy effort through baltimore city and the state were able to To raise about a billion dollars in bond funds and renovate Completely or build new 28 schools So those schools have a number of green features. They're they're built to the us green building councils lead standards and so those are just beautiful buildings that are Wonderful and literally being able to see out the windows to You know green spaces outside is a huge improvement than then some of our buildings are facing we have however 200 plus buildings that are not net zero and have not been fully renovated. And so we are working to Improve those of you know, how do we get better systems better controls? How can we Help people modify their behaviors of turning off lights getting our kids into recycling programs Using less toxic cleaning supplies sort of all of these different things that can help improve the experience for our staff and our students because we know that Those better spaces not only will save us money, but they will result in better satisfaction for the teachers And better outcomes for our students The third piece is about our students. That's why we exist is because of our students. So we are trying to Have experiences embedded into our curriculum so that you do it's an equitable experience Regardless of where you go to school much of our past has been some kids got a great Experience they got to go to our farm. They got to go out to the bay They got to do full hands-on environmental activities if their teacher thought that it was important Or if their principal thought it was important What we're trying to do is say this needs to be in every school in certain great level and embedded in And we're fortunate in that Maryland has a watershed requirement That in elementary school in middle and in high students have to have one watershed experience So those are in fifth grade sixth grade and ninth grade biology and we team up with some great partners Towson University the aquarium Chesapeake Bay Trust Chesapeake Bay Foundation lots of different organizations to help us do that and we're making progress it's a it's a big big project the other piece is Trying to figure out ways that we can connect people to the environment in a joyful and inspirational way So learning about water quality turbidity and dissolved oxygen and the water cycle Is extremely important and we want to do that But we also have a lot of kids who back to the earlier slides Their access to public space and outdoor spaces it has been very restricted We have many kids who haven't been to the harbor in downtown baltimore Which if you ever hear about baltimore you hear about the harbor We have a lot of kids who are not allowed out to play outside when they are at home due to violence and other problems in the neighborhood So how can we create some experiences that help to Say this is can be a beautiful wonderful thing to be outside and that that's sort of the first step in appreciation And then protection and involvement in this work And so we have been working hard on trying to promote our outdoor spaces Outdoor lunch during covid we invested a lot of money in picnic tables and trash cans and cushions and things to try to get people to be outside And then teacher comfort with being outside. We also have teachers who are nervous about runners You know kids taking off in all directions went outside How do we work with them on training and comfort levels and sort of building this piece up? And so that's those sort of two things together of in the formal Environmental education side coupled with the joy and inspiration side. We can hopefully build that that connection and that Care about the environment So that's a summary of our work and I welcome any questions that people have. Thank you very much Awesome. That was a great Great presentation and congratulations. And if anyone knows how schools get built in Maryland have two net zero schools online in the same year Yeah, I hope everyone bought lottery tickets that day That's great. Um, we are just about to transition to our questions and answers For folks in our online audience If you have a question, you can send us an email email address to use as ask at esi.org That's ask at esi org. You can also follow us on twitter at esi online and some that way One of my colleagues, I think it's Savannah because she's holding the microphone We'll be wandering around if anyone has questions from the audience Please either catch my eye or catch her eye or raise your hand or otherwise make it known that you have a question And we'll we have a great amount of time for q&a But before we get to questions, we have a very special guest with us We have joe embroseo He is the president and ceo of unique electric solutions joe Welcome to our briefing today Joe is the person who made or helped make our repowered electric school bus tour possible And so I wanted to introduce him give him a few moments to say a few words If there are any technical questions that come up during the school bus or during the q&a joe's here Otherwise, uh, we uh, we can talk about it more when we get to the bus But joe thanks for your help with our school bus today. Super cool. Thank you dan appreciate the invitation today and being part of this Exciting time at action briefing so our companies So one of the companies that we're working with is Logan bus they were a pioneer and We did an initial thought buses for them and we literally ripped one of their buses out of their hands on friday And we drove it down for the event today. So, you know, we'd love you to come outside and take a look but we just want to We want to emphasize the fact that if you're looking at 500 000 buses, right and we want to do this really really quickly Repowers are a really good way to get there. Obviously, we're biased in saying that but This occurs with buses and trucks and marine vehicles airplanes. So it's a it's a technology that's well understood And that really can help move the industry forward and get us on the right track as soon as possible. So again, I appreciate the opportunity Thanks, joe. It's okay to be biased when you're right. So We'll we'll allow that. Um, let's get into the questions and answers. Um Anyone from our I have lots of them and I can just roll through them But I want to make sure that our folks in our in-person audience today If there are any questions, I'll give you all the first first opportunity to raise your hands And then I'll be taking the questions from the online audience as well Oh, we have one Savannah will bring you the mic Hello, can you guys hear me? Okay. Hi. So my question is um directed to Miss Joanna. So I wanted to know um You were talking a little bit about um school requirements. Um in the curriculum. And so my question was how are you attempting to Uh incorporate this curriculum in schools that don't have those requirements Um, and just uh, if you can give us a little bit more insight of like specific cases or things that you've worked on Sure. Thank you for the question So in baltimore, we have a um Both traditional schools and charter schools, but the default is that their centralized curriculum So there is for example, the science office puts together the fifth grade science units and unit five is about the bay and teachers are expected to teach that And as part of our annual training, there are a number of professional development days over the course of a year We always offer training about, you know, how to teach that unit just like any other unit in the curriculum Charter schools have more flexibility to teach The curriculum that they want and so some choose to either follow the traditional city schools curriculum or they may adapt or Take pieces from it, but they need to follow the state standards So, um, I will say that on this those watershed units. It really still we deal We still do unfortunately have variety of how it's being implemented with this many schools There's bound to be, you know, different uh interpretations of things different times spent on it students are at different Have different needs and so there's differentiation So trying to figure out how we help those teachers implement the those units in a Engaging fun way that they feel comfortable teaching. So for example, the ninth year biology We had we have 12 teachers who did three days of training this summer And are working with our partners right now to actually go out two sites to Do water quality sampling and and then there's an action project associated with that. So students need to Decide either as a group or small groups on something that they are going to take tangible action on to improve the watershed Great question. Well, the next person's thinking of their question I'm going to ask one to the whole panel and Laura I'm going to start with you and then we'll kind of roll down through the list So your presentation talked a little bit about infrastructure and investment jobs act inflation reduction act Laura, what are some of the additional steps now that we have these these new investments Enacted, what are some of the steps that we need to take? They're really critical steps to help ensure that those investments are delivered to communities and For for the congressional staff in our audience today, what should they be looking at in terms of Sort of implementation by the agencies and what should they be thinking of in terms of oversight? Yeah, thank you. I think one of the things that's really critical is there's a lot of opportunity and both the bipartisan infrastructure bill and IRA to really advance this in schools But the law is complicated and especially for people on the ground And so one of the big things that I think is needed right now is real clear explanation I mean if you're working in a school district and you have to follow what the opportunities are with the you know Treasury and EPA and energy it can be a lot and you might miss your opportunities But if there is a way to be really explicit around saying, oh well schools Here are all the opportunities that you can take and here's the way that you can access these grant programs these tax credits Whatever it may be can be a really powerful tool is just elevating that opportunity that's there And and I will continue to say I think the recommendation and our action plan is really Central is pushing school districts to really think about this in a robust way on planning So they're asking those questions around what do I need to do in terms of mitigation? What do I need to do in terms of adaptation? What do I need to do in terms of education? And and recognizing the opportunity to connect to those different federal resources state resources and opportunities In a centralized kind of plan based on the local needs and assets can be a real opportunity For congress going ahead is really thinking about how you can Support school districts and knowing the opportunities around climate action planning and knowing the opportunities that the federal government has provided Sure, I'll second all that. I mean two great pieces of legislation, but lots to Work through and so certainly, you know as as contacted, which I know, you know does happen being able to provide that information back And and be thinking about that access You know at WRI were of course trying to add to that as well and and provide technical assistance and information You know in particular around electric school buses and the opportunities there so that It is easy to see for instance. We put together a two-pager on the the tax rebate provision within IRA and I think we have that link to The the EESI information here. So I you know, I think again Making sure that there's education and and and thinking about How to just you know as as you're out maybe making visits, you know in the field You know being there to to serve as a resource And thinking about the opportunities to have Just greater awareness and and you know thinking about breaking down those barriers between the different pots of funding as well So it's great to have, you know, this problem if you will for the next however many years The the funding is out there But definitely want to spend it, you know spend it well and spend it wisely Pete happy to turn it over to you for your comments I mean the one thing that I think we have to be aware of in schools is that we especially for programs like I mentioned the the food waste warrior program are getting curriculum and getting education is We tend to put a lot of things on the backs of teachers and just expect teachers to be able to do everything for us And I think one of the things that is nice The the house bill that representative Pingree mentioned is This small amount of funding for something like the food waste education and awareness What that does is it tries to instill grants and money that can go into schools So that somebody could be an educator who's getting a stipend maybe a small amount of money like you would get in just Hosting a sports team or being a coach But doing that for something like the sustainability program or a food waste program Just that little bit of a stipend and figuring out how to distribute money I think goes a long way because there has to be some incentive for the teachers and for those school programs to be moving every single year and and So I think you know that the house bill that representative Pingree introduced is a great start It gets us moving in that direction of finding incentives to get teachers to Have an incentive to do programs like this and to keep them moving moving year over year And from the perspective of a school district, what are the critical steps for implementation? So I agree with what several Co-panelists have said of sort of the amount of information that is coming at us as a local school district is a lot. So there's the City, there's the state. There's the federal. There's just All sorts of things at all times And so having partners who can help interpret that for us and provide us with either like Are you did you see this like make sure this didn't slip by you? To technical assistance. So for example, wri is helping us navigate The epa application for the electric school buses and figuring out how best that could work because our team knows how to run buses and you know Internal combustion engine and this is brand new and there's a lot of pieces to it um And and then on the implementation level. I also agree, you know, there's just it's a busy day Like I talked to a teacher the other day who was really excited that she had the highest turnout so far for the environment club in her high school But she's like can you help me figure out what to do with them? Like I it's just overwhelming for me to think about another like planning for another thing for you know Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon with 15 kids And so again having partners to help us do that and and recognizing and supporting our teachers in doing that and paying them Or compensating them in some way and recognizing them is very very important Of course, please um one more thing that I think is really important to think about with implementation of these laws is you know the It's really putting in place a transition of our economy A transition of our economy to clean renewable energy A lot of opportunity there, but it's going to require a workforce to actually Power those jobs in a clean economy And that's another place where our schools can really help is career and technical education programs So I think one thing um that congress can think about doing ensuring that those laws are implemented effectively in our economy is actually Driving towards success is helping support and invest in career and technical education programs that will position people for success in the clean economy ahead too Thanks um, I think we'll start with you and then maybe work backwards. Um Something that all of you mentioned in your presentations is um is equity and ensuring that these investments are distributed in an equitable way, but Um, what does that actually look like how what are some steps that from your perspective? Maybe baltimore city school districts is taking to ensure Um that these benefits are in fact distributed equitably and the communities the frontline communities the environmental justice communities that Um, you know have been left out according to your maps Are catching up and then we'll hear from peed and from from sue and from laura So we try and be as an intent as intentional as possible and I think trying to move away from a System of here's an opportunity whoever raises their hand for it come and take it Because we find that the schools that have the parents who can come in and volunteer and the parents who can come to the pto Meetings and the parents who can write to the city council people and the parents who can do this and that Are the ones who then respond and help, you know May go to the principal or the teacher and help do that. So the first step is Trying to be more thoughtful about Here is an opportunity. How do we get it into the hands? How do we remove as many barriers as possible? So that more people can get to it. So for example the stipends to teachers we Uh, we have sort of a credit system that we can give to teachers and that grew out of just that that we had the teachers The only teachers who were leaving the green team clubs were the ones who could stay after because they didn't have a second job Or they didn't have to pick up their kids or whatever it was And so having some compensation in that is is one piece And then I think looking at our city and you know looking at demographics for different schools And what they may need and different school Different schools may need different things and it's not necessarily a one size fits all Opportunity that we may be sharing with all schools and making sure that we can adapt our programming to what an individual school may need I'll just add that when you look at Analyzing and having education around the food system and programs around things like food loss and waste Um, I mean you're you're having to expose the fact that Most a lot of students this may be the only meal that they have during the day is at school, right? And so You start to develop programming within a school that is looking at developing share tables or Um making sure that surplus food maybe goes to the community and is absorbed as a donation And a lot of these things actually It's policy and laws that can get in the way I think a lot of schools probably still think it's not legal to donate food from the school unless There's proper food safety As part of the program and that's just not true like you can have donation programs You can have share tables and so part of this curriculum and by putting these things out there on food loss and waste It's just a general education and it it strives to make the community more food secure in a lot of ways Uh, and and so I think that's a really great thing when we look at equity and and how this can balance itself nicely across the country Thank you. Um, I think I mentioned that our our effort around electrification for school buses is deliberately focused on equity and That is a big That is a big task But we're kind of approaching in a couple ways that I think makes sense In this context where we're really, you know looking internally in terms of who are we partnering with? What are the community groups on the ground that we're supporting because? Those are the voices that are really going to be important to to supporting Different groups within the community and taking a lot of time to think about what are what our equity values are We're also prioritizing all of our technical assistance Around underserved communities so going to those communities first and working with them and trying to hear from them what their needs are and then trying to Encourage policymakers to do the same in terms of their technical assistance in terms of their funding And then i'll mention also i'm glad lora brought it up around workforce. We think there is a huge opportunity For developing a the workforce of the future and providing those opportunities within the classroom or technical training And so we actually have a project we're working on directly with manufacturers who often provide some of this training as well as well as A number of community colleges and community groups and again That's a really key part for policymakers well and and you know some of what we've seen in some of the programs thus far Do a great job of Allowing for school districts or other to be able to fund some of those workforce or training Elements so those are important to continue the support for those also Yeah, and I just think um, you know to add I think from the federal policy perspective There's obviously prioritization of funding which can be a huge way of helping to advance equity But I think we also get into the mindset a lot of times is talking about a deficit model when we're talking about equity And we also need to recognize assets that communities bring to the conversation And sometimes one of the big things that the federal government can do is recognizing in grant programs The need to include community engagement and ensuring that that community engagement is representative of often under Voiced members of the community as well And that's the way that you're going to ensure that any solutions that are advanced within that community also meet the community needs Recognize how climate change is impacting that community or how education inequities are impacting that community So coming out of mindset of both prioritization and ensuring community engagement can be two big things that You know from the federal government can be done Thanks, and we have a question from our audience You hold the distinction of the first in-person esi briefing question in two and a half years you get number two So we're really eager to hear what you have to say. Okay. Hello. Thank you all for being here um, I graduated from the university of vermont last year And we had some pretty successful campus wide sustainability efforts Like required composting in our dining halls. Um, we had a ban on plastic water bottles and Our buses. I don't think they were completely electrified, but they were low emissions not completely diesel So my question for any member of the panel is Do you think any of your? Action plans or programs could be implemented at the collegiate level. Um, especially considering that Our universities are big institutions that have large impacts on the environment Yeah, this will be a free-for-all whoever would like to jump in So one of the things that we just did actually last week Was announced that we're expanding our work from k-12 climate action to now this this is planet ed And including three new buckets of work. We're actually Working on an early years climate action plan that is considering the needs of Younger children from zero to eight and how we need to think about taking climate action there We're developing an initiative in higher education that will also model what we've done with k-12 and thinking about What's the unique role of higher education in taking action on climate change? And we also have a work that we're developing around children's media and how children's media can help teach solutions as well So yes, absolutely higher guide can and stay tuned. We're working on that too Anyone else would like to jump in? I'll just add I mean we get that question a lot and so does um, epa. Um, so, you know another yes And when you think about school buses and fleet opportunities Um, what we hope is that some of what we're seeing already Um in the in the k-12 world, you know can really help inform that process And just continue to build that so um, I think it's citing that There are many colleges and other institutions as well, you know that that play a part You know, you can think about churches you can think about head start programs There's a whole array that are involved in that Now I'll just add on the cafeteria side. What's really Uh, hopeful to me is that you have companies like subexo airmark compass They're all really embracing the issue of food waste for sure But I think they're also taking it to the next level and looking at planet healthy diets How do we actually start to change some of the recipes and the the food we're actually serving? Not just reducing waste but looking at how that can be more climate friendly and I I think it's really encouraging There is a large network of universities that are have climate action goals And so there are there is a very robust set of work going on there and I cannot speak Very much about it, but other than I know that some of that does trickle down to us and in baltimore All of the universities in town Have programs and are working towards climate action goals And so it's inspiring and and we have been talking about ways we might be able to work together more And I suppose this year student in baltimore is next year's university freshman So my guess is that it trickles up a little bit which would be kind of exciting and I'll actually say that then You're our next teacher. So we're starting to also get teachers who say What like why isn't my school recycling like a generation of people now who have grown up doing this and they are now in the classroom and and are surprised and upset and want to Carry this on and help to educate and inspire the the kids And I think we have a question. I'll come to you next, but we'll go to the back first Okay, um, I'm actually uh, I was a baltimore city science teacher for 12 years So worked with some of the programs that Joanna mentioned. I'm just here for a year. I'll probably be back Um, my question when I think about a lot of the students that I've taught I think about where they're going Um, and the programs that they get to do like they inspire it engages them in these things Um, do you see an opportunity to take some of those and create uh, either mentorship opportunities or Kind of direct that interest into have a pipeline into internships mentorships and jobs Thank you for your service We'd love to have you back if you change careers again We work a lot with our college and career readiness office We have a work-based learning program And so that is something that we have been working to try and connect to that too So for example our automotive pathway We are now starting to have conversations about how does that look for training our kids on how to maintain electric vehicles We have a lot of gardens and you know urban farms and how can we get kids out doing internships and summer jobs We have a youth work summer employment program through the mayor's office and trying to see if we can do you know opportunities Have partners participate in that program so that our kids can get paid for those summer jobs doing You know, whatever it may be in the green and the blue economy So I think there's a lot of opportunity there and is something that we're hoping to be able to dedicate more time and resources to in the coming years Other panelists, please feel free to weigh in I just want to add that one of the things we've looked at is actually trying to pair up High school students as mentors to elementary school kids I mean for me growing up some of the coolest people were the high school kids right when you're in elementary school And you know, if we look at curriculum and things like stipends Maybe we can start directing some of those stipends to the high school students themselves as a part-time job Then being mentors and educating elementary school And I I think that's a fun intersection in a way of building that mentorship and those programs If we have the funding to do that type of thing And that brings us to our next question Hi there um, I was wondering if someone can talk about infrastructure with school buses because obviously The buses are only one component of it and I know that The department of transportation is approving all of the ev charging infrastructure plans for states and but as many of you have Alluded to sometimes it can be very difficult to see which pots of money exist and how school district can Capitalize on that So i'm wondering what you would say to a school district that feels like they can't electrify their buses because they don't have The infrastructure around the schools to run the routes effectively or they feel they don't have that I'll try to jump in on that but others as well because durrani you're going through it directly. Um, I think infrastructure is is um Is definitely at the heart of a lot of the challenges. Um, there's many of them, but you know, we're seeing a pathway forward In terms of the funding part of it, which is one part We do have some money through I say we but the school districts do have some funding through the clean school bus program that Provides, you know, a portion of that. Um, it may not be enough to cover all of the costs And then the nevy program that's through dot that I think all the plans or initial plans just got approved today Are another part of a broader infrastructure investment Some of which will be helpful to to school buses. Um, you know, those are all Located, you know, not often in a publicly accessible way. So, you know, there's some there's some cross over there But I'd say the first thing we say to school districts is Go talk to your utility Because they are critical to building out that infrastructure. Um They need to be part of it regardless of whether or not they might also be able to provide some incentives and some funding depending upon where they are and, you know, what they've got approved. So, um, you know It's happening. Um, but it's really critical to do that planning. Um, and it does take, you know It does take some time to think about where to locate chargers. What kind of chargers? Um, you know, most School buses are, you know, this is why they're an attractive electrification Um case is that they're sitting there overnight unused Great time to plug in low cost, you know, very accessible energy And so, you know, there there's a lot of options that you can put into place in terms of the type of charging that you need, but you know, also need to build a lot of Infrastructure, uh, you know A lot of wires that need to be laid as well, you know, particularly when you think about getting to scale. So Um, it's definitely something to not uh to not lose sight of But not lose sleep on I guess is maybe how I put it You know, there's there's a lot of programs out there and and definitely utilities as like a Key connector on that if you will, um, you know, are part of that as well Um on the back of this flyer is one of the qr codes is a case study from colorado About their transition to electric school buses That could be a resource free to take a look at and then we did a briefing in june I think maybe june about electric vehicle charging infrastructure build out as one of our big swings So the how do we get this thing to scale? How do we go from gas stations on every, you know Other corner to electric vehicle charging infrastructure that can support an all electric fleet or at least an all electric light duty fleet but our uh utility infrastructure team Just whispered in my ear to say that we have a power planner guide that we have developed for school districts specifically on that so again another resource to Look at for for folks who are interested Do it The bus is a huge expense and has been the the main barrier But you're right that once there is either a Commitment to spend that money or as we're hoping for an epa allocation Some money does come for the charging equipment But that like the epa money for example will not pay for the infrastructure from the pole to the pad Right, it only covers once the the electricity is already on our on our property And we need to put in a new meter because it's a huge amount of electricity So just as you said we are talking with our utility trying to figure out there They're very interested in working with us the new ring, you know line of electricity customer coming down the way Right so far we have not Figured out what that that support might look like but we are hopeful and it It requires both technical knowledge that we don't necessarily have because we haven't done this before And just the dollars to actually install all of that equipment and then maintain it Over the course of the year. I will also say that we also have A fleet of vehicles for our staff A lot of staff use their own vehicles But we do have some of our maintenance team and others who have Vehicles and so we are also trying to figure out electrifying those cars And where would we put chargers for there and that's a whole another sort of animal We've been I'm going to pan the room and see if we have any other questions But in the meantime, we've gotten a lot of great questions online And I think these might be a little bit more like like lightning round, but I think they're really interesting um The first uh, I'm going to combine a couple of them and ask if Any of you have seen in your experience how what we've talked about today Has expired either climate leadership or climate activism in the part of students or on the part of students and maybe building on You know the presentations about you know students becoming involved in writing postcards to anapolis Um sort of beyond that any any thoughts on that? I can say that yes I mean those The the small grant program that we offer to teachers to lead green teams and they they need to have students Names written into the application who have helped come up with the idea We have some kids who started that in elementary school. They then carry that into their middle school. They're now One of them is one of is a paid intern with our baltimore city office of sustainability She's in high school. We have some college students that are doing this I think there's huge potential and even if it's not as Uh, clear as that student I still think that being in this role and and to your point when the high school kids or even when the seventh graders go around and do a presentation to the kindergartners about recycling and trash and reusing things That's a that's a win and for everyone all around Others please laura. Yeah, I we heard a lot from students actually students pushing the activism in their schools rather than the other way around But we heard from students in salt lake that really pushed their school board to develop that 100 clean energy Resolution there and then they were a part of the team to develop the sustainability action plan for their school district Um on equal footing with the other people that were a part of it There was a student in miami who had an eighth grade project where she learned about electric school buses and then pushed the school district to Get some electric school buses there. There was another team in miami that pushed for composting So I think this is a real opportunity where students can activate. There was just a student in boise, idaho Frustrated with his school board for not passing a clean energy resolution That when he turned 18 he ran and just won a seat on the school board in boise, idaho Last month. So actually earlier this month. So, um, there's a lot of student activism that's that's leading the charge on this Pete sue, please feel free to jump. Yeah Well, we've been inspired by the story of miami and that's one of the reasons that we we worked with that school district there Is because you know, and you think about like how can one high school student do anything? It was pretty amazing the impact that that That she had um, the other thing that this makes me think about is um, just the the broader opportunity to think about You know kids and you've got the um, the cafeteria is a classroom I mean just seeing opportunities to have the entire school and the transformation of that You know be inspiring and um, you know, it's very much You know the kids seeing that this is their future that that they have a part of and wanting to be more active and For that reason we included a high school student in our advisory council And so that's kind of our connection to you know hear what what what our kids thinking and and you know, how can they be more involved? And i'll make mine just really quick it's I am always amazed at the level of intelligence and capability of even elementary middle school and high school students and To a to a large degree all of these programs It's really a way to educate the adults still and for us to kind of get out of the way and let them Enable them to do what they're capable of because I just find every time they are capable of some really amazing things Great um another question came in um that I think could be an interesting lightning round question that is for um people who want to learn more about what various states are doing with respect to climate action plans or Curriculum resources that that people might be interested in does anyone have any recommendations about where Someone might go to learn about how these things are happening in places that maybe haven't been mentioned yet We've talked a lot about maryland. We've talked a lot about miami, but what about other places that might be setting good examples I'd like to share the resource of the center for green schools that's the us green building council and they have a great k-12 program of Both policy documents as well as resources. They run an annual conference and it's a it's a really great resource Um, we have a state policy landscape that we did in 2020 Uh, that really is just looking at where states are and their policies. It is 2020 Um, so two years outdated. Um, but it's a good place to start Um, and I'll put in a plug to new jersey is the first state in the country to just start implementing cross-curricular climate change standards They passed that uh two years ago and this is the first year of implementation So now they're dealing with the build out of supporting educators and actually teaching to these standards And so that's certainly a state to look towards too Pete any thoughts on where people may or go ahead sue, please Okay, well, yeah, I was just gonna add might be more at the um, the school level really. Um, we've developed a collection of um, for the case studies vignettes about, um uh school bus adoption, um In different places. So yes, we have california and And um, some of the places we mentioned but also what's going on in canada, which is another big market for that But places like missouri, um, just kind of giving a sample of like there's there's a whole you know a whole variety of of ways that um, uh, that schools are tackling this and and you know part of their broader plans Thanks to everyone online who submitted questions. Sorry. We didn't get to all of them But it was a robust q&a discussion, which is really great and any other questions in the room We're gonna end up on we're gonna end on time because we have to go visit the bus and we don't want to keep it up too late So, um, we'll go ahead and wrap it up. Um, I'd like to say first of all, thanks to for Fantastic panelists laura sue p and Joanna. Thank you so much for joining us today on this panel to talk about catalyzing climate action in schools Excellent presentations. Um, I also like to say a special thanks to representative or chairman scott who Is hosting us today help this get this amazing room with a picture of george miller behind us um, like to say thanks to representative paul tonko for helping us secure a location for the school bus visit Thanks to him And thanks to shelly prengree for joining us and providing introductory remarks talking about her really cool bill to address food waste Means a lot when members of congress participate in our briefings also like to um, thank um Joe for joining us in the room and uh Means a lot for you to be with us today and thanks also to mike who will meet in a few minutes at the bus Thanks to sue and the gang at wri for all of their Logistics and moral support getting the bus, uh, which was no simple feat, but we managed To do it. So thanks very much for that. I also like to Acknowledge my esi colleagues for all of their hard work. Daniel brian. I don't see him He's around here. Oh, there he is. Daniel brian omri. Emma who's actually off today But she worked really hard on all of this alison anna savannah Special thanks to molly. I don't see molly But molly was the person coordinating with the sergeant arms and the capital police To actually figure out where this bus was going to be and it was she just joined us over the summer So this was not just her first briefing, but her first in person briefing and it's you know It's an experience to go through when you're working on your first one I'd also like to Share thanks to our interns Alina nick and shreya who's joining us in person today as well. Thanks for all of your really really hard work also Shout out to my man shroy for helping us with all the great videography and making us all look and sound as As good as we can do at least naturally and Before we take off for the bus my colleague dano is going to put up a survey link For those online you can go ahead and click for those in the room Hopefully it's not too much to type in if you take a few moments I think it's like literally two minutes But if anyone has any feedback you'd like to share About how we've done coming back to being in person If there's any issues you had with the webcast audio video quality any comments Generally about the program ideas for future topics we might cover we read every response And so it means a lot to us if you take a moment to share that feedback We will conclude we are exactly on time Folks who would like to go visit the bus We'll go over together and have a chance to chat To everyone else in our online audience and for those in our in-person audience who can't join us Thanks for coming today And we'll hopefully see you back online on october 12th for the first of our coptober briefings And that is going to be key findings from the newest global assessment report on climate change You can visit us online at www.esi.org to sign up for that and also to subscribe to our biweekly newsletter climate change solutions Thanks everybody. Hope everyone has a good rest of your wednesday