State officials advocate for clean transportation options

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WEAU) - Officials in the Coulee Region and across Wisconsin are pushing the federal government to make a major investment in clean transportation.

Wisconsin Health Professionals for Climate Action hosted a virtual press conference Thursday to explain why clean transportation would be a better option for the environment.

“The growth of zero-pollution transportation offers us an opportunity to improve the air we breath and reach sustainability across the country. But electric buses will also be a game changer for the City of La Crosse -- providing significant future cost savings, job creation and reduction in air pollution” said La Crosse Municipal Transit Director Adam Lorentz.

Lorentz adds that La Crosse can serve as an inspiration for smaller communities in the state.

“It’s mainly the large municipalities that have really put electric vehicles into rotation, and so with the eyes on La Crosse, and we’re happy to have it, the promotion of a size fleet that we have right now is something that could be really positive for the rest of the state and really the Midwest in general,” Lorentz explained.

Speakers discussed how transportation accounts for the largest source of climate-harming carbon pollution in the country, and that clean transportation is critical to combat climate change.

The nearly $1 trillion infrastructure deal being discussed in Washington D.C. earmarks $15 billion for electric car and bus infrastructure.