WEST CHESTER – Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty said five Chester County school districts that are replacing conventional diesel with biofuels to power its school buses are proof that consumers are willing and eager to shift their consumption and buying habits away from foreign oil to locally produced alternatives.
The secretary said such demand, coupled with ongoing high prices at the pumps, should motivate the General Assembly to pass Gov. Edward G. Rendell’s Energy Independence Strategy before the year’s end.
“As a nation, we’ve become heavily dependent on foreign oil,” said McGinty, “and that dependence is coming at a great cost. Last week, the average price of conventional diesel in Pennsylvania was $3.62 a gallon, compared to the $3 per gallon average B20 blends of biodiesel were selling for in the state.
“The financial and economic ramifications of our addiction to foreign oil are even more bleak. The United States now imports 60 percent of its oil and our nation assumes nearly $1 billion in new debt each day to finance those purchases. That level of dependence is putting our national security and economic well-being at risk.
“Governor Rendell recognizes the sense of urgency these conditions present, and has put forth a plan that helps break that dependence,” said the secretary. “Last month, he asked the legislature once again to adopt his plan before the end of the year. Pennsylvania’s families are feeling the pinch of higher prices at the pump and for home heating fuels; they cannot afford to wait.”
Under Rendell’s PennSecurity Fuels Initiative Pennsylvania would be required to produce and consume nearly 1 billion gallons of biofuels—an amount equal to what the state will import annually from the Persian Gulf by 2017. The initiative is part of the Energy Independence Strategy he unveiled in February and is currently the topic of a special legislative session.
McGinty today applauded the initiative taken by the Chester County Intermediate Unit, the Coatesville, Downingtown, Kennett Square and West Chester school districts, the Energy Cooperative of Pennsylvania, and Krapf Bus Companies.
The Energy Co-op will use a $300,000 Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant that was awarded in October to cover the incremental costs of purchasing nearly 2.3 million gallons of diesel fuel blended with 20 percent biodiesel, otherwise known as B20, to power the Krapf buses serving the districts.
“To have forward thinking community organizations like these step up and take action to break our foreign oil dependence is encouraging,” said McGinty. “Plus, the fact that these partners will be purchasing the biodiesel from Pennsylvania producers—United Oil and Keystone Biofuels—is especially commendable. Instead of sending their liquid fuel dollars abroad to purchase foreign oil, this co-op is looking to Pennsylvania companies that are producing a domestic alternative, creating jobs, and growing our economy.”
The school districts, the Energy Co-op, and Moms for the Future are members of the Chester County Biodiesel Coalition, which also includes Krapf Bus Companies. The coalition members worked together to ensure the switch to biodiesel was successful.
“We feel better knowing that our children will be exposed to less asthma-causing pollutants when they ride the school bus,” said Dianne Herrin, president of Moms for the Future, a grassroots parents’ association. “We also feel great knowing that the B20 biodiesel will help reduce the CO2 pollution that causes global climate change. This success shows that the mother’s voice is a powerful voice for good.”
Biodiesel provides significant environmental improvements compared to traditional diesel fuels, including less particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Particulate matter pollution has been linked to asthma and respiratory ailments.