Now that there is more money to fight climate change Olympia should spend those funds where they will do the most good (“State eyes $300M haul from first-ever carbon emission auction,” The Herald, March 8). The sooner we get those exhaust-spewing diesel 18-wheelers, school and transit buses, garbage trucks and other large vehicles off our roads the better.
The cost of a new electric school bus or semi truck is twice that of a diesel, but once acquired the maintenance and fuel costs are much lower. School districts and trucking firms should get help from the state with those upfront costs. Olympia can help fund more charging stations and organize demonstration projects, accelerating the transition away from these largest polluters.
It will be tempting for legislators to direct some of that new-found money to pay for other worthy projects, but transportation is our region’s biggest contributor to climate change. We can jumpstart the same transition we are seeing toward electric cars by making it affordable for our biggest rigs to also make that switch.
David Jones
Edmonds
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