Propane buses aren’t clean. We need electric buses instead.

America’s accelerating transition to clean energy and electric vehicles presents an existential threat to the fossil fuel industry. With its back against the wall, the industry has been forced to get creative about rebranding dirty fossil fuels as “clean, green” solutions. In particular, industry lobbyists have started to push propane, a byproduct of methane or “natural” gas production, as a clean and environmentally-friendly alternative to replace diesel buses

But propane buses are not a clean, safe alternative to diesel. First off, propane and methane gas emit climate-warming greenhouse gasses. Instead of switching from one climate change-causing fuel source to another, we should be focused on zero-emission vehicle technology that can run on renewable energy. There is no reason to dig ourselves a deeper hole of fossil fuel-dependency. 

Transportation is the nation’s number one source of climate-harming emissions, contributing to worsening droughts, hurricanes and wildfires. Moreover, every year, air pollution from cars, trucks and other vehicles cuts short an estimated 58,000 lives. To address these environmental and public health crises, we need to move away from fossil fuel pollution and embrace clean transportation solutions instead.   

While diesel is one of the dirtiest transportation fuels, propane buses are still dangerous to public health. Thomas Built Buses, which produces diesel, propane and electric buses, has found that although propane buses emit less nitrogen oxide pollution than diesel, propane buses still emit air pollutants like carbon monoxide and non-methane hydrocarbons.