University of Alabama receives $7.8 million grant to electrify buses

On Thursday, Congresswoman Terri Sewell visited the University of Alabama, where she was joined by University President Stuart Bell, to announce that the federal government has awarded the University a $7.8 award to convert the University’s bus fleet from diesel-powered buses to battery-powered electric buses.

“I just stopped by the University of Alabama to deliver a check for $7.8 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to upgrade the University’s Crimson Ride bus fleet with new, clean energy electric buses,” Sewell wrote on Facebook. “That means new vehicles and a cleaner, healthier campus community! ”

Rep. Sewell was the only member of the Alabama Congressional delegation to vote in favor of President Joe Biden’s controversial infrastructure bill, which included $billions to fight climate change.

“Once again, we’re seeing much-needed funding coming to Alabama to improve our infrastructure, connect our communities, and clean up our environment,” Sewell continued. “This law is a true testament to what we can achieve when we put people over politics, and I was proud to support it!”

Earlier in the day, Rep. Sewell hosted a town hall at the McDonald Hughes Center in Tuscaloosa to speak with constituents.

“Climate change is real,” Sewell said at the press conference. “We have experienced tornados and really bad storms here. The reality is that we need to leave this planet better than we found it, and that is going to take an investment in our infrastructure.”

Sewell said that the federal government should invest in infrastructure like charging stations, “To make sure that we are not contributing to the release of greenhouse gases.”

Electric battery-powered buses have 70 percent lower global warming emissions than diesel or natural gas buses, according to a recent analysis by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The Biden administration and some environmentalists claim that reducing emissions will have an overall benefit in reducing global warming moving forward.

Sewell is in her sixth term representing Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District. She faces her most difficult re-election effort to date due to population migration out of the district and 2021 redistricting by the Alabama Legislature that made the district much more Republican than it was in the 2020 election. Sewell is the only Democrat in Alabama’s congressional delegation. She is the only Black woman to represent Alabama in Congress in the history of the State of Alabama. Sewell is a native of Selma and lives in the Hoover area.

“It is important that you vote for the people who have your back whether it is the people’s house, the governor’s house, or the state house,” Sewell said. “It is the honor of a lifetime to represent you in Washington, and I can only do that through town halls like this across the district.”

Sewell faces Republican Beatrice Nichols and Libertarian Gavin Goodman in the November 8 general election.

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