The Clean Transportation Path endeavors to provide high school students with the knowledge of clean transportation, to benefit the planet and themselves.
Green Driving America Inc. is implementing The Clean Transportation Path© project, featuring presentations in the classroom to high school educators: environmental science, science, math, STEM, and driver educators. Presentation details below.
With today's blend of vehicles, those dominated by the internal combustion engine (ICE) and now the emergence of vehicles powered by electricity, green driving basically means two things:
• What we drive: cleaner vehicles such as plug-in hybrid electrics (PHEVs), or all-electrics (EVs)
• How we drive: smart driving practices such as accelerating and braking smoothly, watching speed, and avoiding unnecessary idling
Smart driving practices are admirable in achieving reductions in emissions and pollution, and increases in fuel economy. But this alone is not the solution. In the U.S., the largest share of GHG emissions comes from transportation. ICE vehicles, which have been on the road since the 1800s, are putting us nearer to a precipice:
• CO2 emitted into the atmosphere that is seriously impacting our climate
• Fossil fuel use, from extraction to emissions
• Air quality / health impacts of tailpipe toxins
Now, for humans and for the planet, it is time to accelerate the transition to clean vehicles.
HOW A DIFFERENCE CAN BE MADE: The Clean Transportation Path (TCTP) presentations focus on the cost savings / CO2 emissions and fossil fuel use reductions / improved air quality benefits of plug-in vehicles (PHEVs and EVs):
• How they operate and differ from traditional gas vehicles
• How their maintenance/repair costs are typically one-half of gas vehicles
• Details on plug-in vehicle charging and a state’s growing charging station infrastructure
• Purchase/lease incentives of new and used versions of these vehicles
• How they perform in cold weather
Our presentations also touch on alternatives to driving, including public transportation, bicycling, walking, and ride sharing/car pooling.
THE CLEAN TRANSPORTATION PATH© PRESENTATION DETAILS
As of summer and fall 2022, Green Driving America (GDA) is offering guest-speaking presentations in high school environmental science, science, math, STEM, and driver education classes. These presentations normally range in cost from $150 to $175 each. However, GDA currently has foundation funding to offer these presentations at no cost in the Upper Valley region of Vermont and New Hampshire (19 currently available), and in the Lamoille County, Vermont area (four currently available). GDA is pursuing funding to offer these presentations in other parts of VT and NH, as well as for other New England states, New York, and Oregon.
Presentations are 45 minutes to an hour or more, depending on time flexibility. They include:
• PowerPoint with three videos (see below)1
• Student PDF handout covering presentation content and more - customized for each state (Vermont shown in this example)
• Optional Quick Quiz: five-minute, nine question, mostly multiple choice; answers revealed in a PowerPoint slide
• Q & A and/or a group discussion can fill any remaining time.
TCTP presentations are conducted virtually (such as with Zoom) by one of our trained high school or college level interns2; these interns are volunteers but are paid a stipend. Optionally, educators can utilize students from their host school, who would be comfortable in public speaking, to give in-person presentations. They would be trained by the educator and/or virtually by the GDA executive director (educators may attend such a session). Host school student presenters would be in a voluntary, unpaid role.
The PowerPoint is customized for each state, for example showing a state's EV charging station locations, and available EV incentives/rebates/credits.
1 Educators are invited to a virtual prescreening
2 Intern information, including resume, shared upon request
Educators having a possible interest in incorporating our classroom sessions into their curricula,
please contact Wayne Michaud by email: firstname.lastname@example.org or by phone/text:
New England and New York: 802-267-4442; Oregon: 916-209-0224
OUR EXPERIENCE IN THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY
Since 2021, GDA has been implementing Green Driving from the Start (GDFTS) presentations for driver educators and driving schools. These presentations cover both smart driving practice tips in an ICE vehicle (to reduce CO2 emissions and fuel costs), and an introduction to low- to zero-emission vehicles.
GDA evolved from an organization also run by executive director, Wayne Michaud, that was founded in Vermont: Idle-Free VT, that specialized in conducting educational projects in the school community. The organization was awarded grants to implement these projects starting in 2013. They were split into two efforts:
1. measured idle-free schools campaigns at 13 schools (11 in Vermont; two in California)
2. a predecessor of the presentations we are giving today. More than 120 of these guest-speaking presentations were conducted in driver education and science/math educator classes from 2013-2016.
Presentation PowerPoint, Videos, Student Handout
FOR INTERESTED EDUCATORS: Below are video images (advancing in 12 seconds each) from the full, animated The Clean Transportation Path PowerPoint slide presentation (in its current developed form) that is shown, along with four videos. This is the PowerPoint for Vermont; it is customized for each state. NOTE: slides will include notes that the presenter will use to elaborate upon.
NOTE: The Clean Transportation Path© presentation is the property of Green Driving America Inc. It may not be used or recorded without permission. The other videos below are open source and may be freely used.
Gasoline, Gasoline, the World's Aflame is another video that educators may be interested in showing beyond the time allotted in presentations.
(customized for each state; Vermont shown)
WHAT WILL THE DIFFERENCE BE?: GDA sees the vitally important reasons why new and future drivers need to embrace the electrification of transportation. Chief among these is that many states are confronted with their highest percentage of GHG emissions coming from transportation, as well as tailpipe toxins from gas vehicles that can impact our health. And that, to address this issue, some of these states, including those in New England, New York, Oregon, and California, have very robust goals to increase electric vehicle registrations by 2030. The Clean Transportation Path educational sessions will make a difference as a percentage of students will grasp and apply the compelling information shown. They (and by extension, some of the adults around them) will learn to be more environmentally responsible drivers as well as being shown the path to EVs. Over the coming years, each student who makes the choice not to drive an ICE vehicle, will avoid the consumption of many hundreds to thousands of gallons of fuel, resulting in reductions of many tons of CO2 emissions.