Clean Energy GenerationÂ
A community is a group of people who share common characteristics, interests, or goals, fostering a sense of belonging and shared identity. When SACE started the #Clean Energy Generation (CEG), it was our way of creating and supporting a community of people across all ‘generations’ working together to build a future powered by clean energy. CEG members are using our collective power to accelerate the transition as we pivot away from polluting fossil fuels to a future that is safe, healthy, and protects the people and places we love most.Â
As it turns out, lots of Southeasterners are heeding the call to join and take action. World Asthma Day on May 6, 2025, provided a great opportunity to educate, engage, and demonstrate that collective action is powerful!
Plugging into the Electric School Bus EffortÂ
SACE is a proud member of the Alliance for Electric School Buses, a national consortium of non-profit organizations committed to transitioning our nation’s fleet of school buses to electric. This year, to honor World Asthma Day, the Alliance created a call to action to show support for continuing federal funding for clean electric school buses. This nationwide effort generated thousands of handwritten postcards and digital signatures in support of clean school buses.Â
Electric School Buses Offer One Asthma SolutionÂ
Clean, electric buses provide significant health benefits for children, particularly those with asthma. Studies have shown that reducing exposure to diesel exhaust by transitioning to zero-emission electric school buses can reduce asthma attacks, respiratory illnesses, and school absences. Diesel exhaust pollution is harmful for everyone, but is especially bad for kids as their lungs are developing.Â
At Earth Day events throughout our region in April, several members of the Clean Energy Generation spoke to friends, neighbors, and community members about the benefits of electric school buses. We helped make the connection between cleaner air associated with driving zero-emission electric school buses that lack a tailpipe. We educated members of our community about the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program, and the $5 billion in federal funding that was allocated for it through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.Â
Many of the people my colleague Janet and I spoke with at the Savannah Earth Day event had no idea that Georgia has 124 and Florida has 219 electric school buses safely transporting students to school. Some folks were also surprised to learn that Bluebird and Thomas Built buses are made by American workers in Georgia and North Carolina, respectively.Â
SACE staffers Dory Larsen (left) and Janet Miller (right) at Savannah’s Earth Day event.
Turning Awareness into Action
After talking with community members, we asked them to take action in support of clean school buses via signing a digital letter that would be sent to their federal senators and representative or to hand write a postcard to one of their state senators, urging them to continue funding for these buses during the federal budget reconciliation process.Â
From left to right: Kay Hudson (right), Scott Presson, Sara Vinson, Maxine Connor, Laura Bastarach, and Rhudine Rush-Steele. Not pictured: Mary Dipboye
Kay Hudson, with the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Orange County, collected postcards at Orlando’s Earth Day event.
Scott Presson is a clean energy volunteer with the Sierra Club Georgia Chapter and encouraged his chapter to collect postcards.
Sara Vinson, co-founder of Sustainable Newton, collected postcards at the Cheerios Challenge/Earth Day Celebration on April 19th in Covington, Georgia.
Maxine Connor, Natural Resources Chair of the League of Women Voters of Citrus County, Co-Chair and co-chair of the LWVFL Clean Energy Action Team, collected postcards at the LWVFL Clean Energy Action Team table at the Earth Day Expo at the Extension office in Citrus County, FL on Saturday, April 26. Maxine is also the Natural Resources Chair of the League of Women Voters of Citrus County.
Rhudine Rush-Steele and friend Laura Bastarach called friends & canvassed to help collect postcards. The picture is at a goat yoga class held in their local park every year.
Mary Dipboye (not pictured) collected postcards through her work with the First Unitarian Church of Orlando. She is the co-chair of their Green Team.
Culmination of Day of Action
After collecting hundreds of postcards and virtual signatures in support of funding for clean school buses, SACE was proud to team up with partner advocacy organizations of the Alliance for Electric School Buses in both Georgia and Florida to deliver them to elected officials on World Asthma Day for a Day of Action.
In Georgia, SACE, Moms Clean Air Force and Climate Action Campaign delivered letters to Senator Jon Ossoff’s Atlanta office. We were joined by advocate Ramsey Nix, who wrote about the experience, and her two children.
Left to right: Neal Vanmarter (Sen. Ossoff staff); Kiya Stanford (MCAF); Janet Miller (SACE); Ramsey Nix and her children Tommy and Catie Jo; Dory Larsen (SACE), Alex White (Sen. Ossoff staff); and Yesha Joshi (CAC).
In Florida, Lorna Perez, Florida Field Consultant and Sarah McBride, communications specialist, with Moms Clean Air Force, along with Karen Freedman, co-chair of the LWVFL Clean Energy Action Team, delivered them to Senator Rick Scott’s office in Tampa (X Video).Â
Left to right: Sarah McBride, Karen Freedman, and Lorna Perez.
At Senator Ossoff’s office, we were able to meet with staff and thank them for the Senator’s support of clean school bus funding. At Senator Scott’s office, it was an opportunity to explain all the reasons why he should.Â
Both Day of Action events demonstrate how impactful CEG members can be in energizing their communities. They act as weavers, gathering together their community members and then connecting their collective action to the leaders who make decisions on behalf of their community.Â
It also shows how, when many voices are singing from the same score, the chorus is harmonious and unmistakable.Â
Join the Clean Energy Generation
With all the chaos at the federal level, it’s easy to feel like you’re alone yelling into the void, so we invite you to join the Clean Energy Generation and lend your voice. Put your passion into action! Join our next Clean Energy Generation call at noon on June 13 to learn about ways we will keep moving forward.
Thank you to all the advocates who supported the World Asthma Day of Action. In Florida: Jeff Dorian, Karen Freedman, Mary Dipboye, Maxine Connor, Suncoast Sierra Club, Kay Hudson, and Mary Linn. In Georgia: Rhudine Rush-Steele, Scott Presson, and Sara Vinson
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy’s Electrify the South program leverages research, advocacy, and outreach to accelerate the equitable transition to electric transportation across the Southeast. Visit ElectrifytheSouth.org to learn more and connect with us.
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