Since implementation of the U.S. EPA’s first round of funding through the Clean School Bus Program, which awarded over $900 million for more than 2,400 electric school buses to 389 school districts, there are now electric school bus commitments in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. American Samoa, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. And you can expect to see even more electric school buses hitting the roads soon. A recent announcement from the EPA includes a second round of $400 million in funding. Most school buses run on diesel, creating toxic exhaust linked to cancer, respiratory disease and developmental problems. Bringing more clean electric school buses to U.S. roadways will deliver benefits to the children who ride buses and the communities along bus routes. WRI’s quarterly update provides information on the state of electric school bus implementation. Read more.

Indigenous leaders are gathering at the UN this week for the largest summit focused on Indigenous peoples and their allies. The theme — Indigenous peoples, human health, planetary and territorial health, and climate change — is an important one: Indigenous peoples and local communities are some of the best environmental stewards, but the lands they occupy face increasing threats. For example, WRI analysis shows that forests occupied by Indigenous and local communities are some of the Amazon’s last carbon sinks, but mineral extraction and other development projects are encroaching. Learn more about this and other issues facing Indigenous peoples and local communities on WRI’s new resource hub. Read more.

The most recent report from the IPCC presents yet another wakeup call on the devastating impact of greenhouse gases. And while carbon dioxide (CO2) may be the most well-known climate pollutant, it isn’t the only one to worry about. Short-lived climate pollutants, or “super pollutants” like methane from livestock and hydroflourocarbons from air conditioning and refrigerators, are responsible for half the warming the world has experienced to date. The IPCC finds that to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C and prevent some of the worst impacts of climate change, we need to cut short-lived climate pollutants and carbon dioxide in tandem. Read more.