startribune.com — The schools are closed today because the buses' biodiesel fuels aren't cooperating with the cold weather. The school district tried getting a waiver from the state to allow their buses to use regular diesel fuel, to no avail. Instead, buses stalled throughout the district and across the state. Children had to be treated for hypothermia.
Jan 19, 2009 View in Crawl 4
troika37Jan 19, 2009Submitter
This is an absurd requirement for school buses in a state that sees these kinds of low temperatures every year. If the fuel cannot be used in -20F weather, then we should be using fuel that works when it gets that cold. Having school children stand or sit in that kind of weather for any extended period of time is dangerous. To think that using a politically-correct form of fuel is more important than their safety or education demonstrates an obtuseness that simply boggles the mind.
indyannaJan 19, 2009
re: "This is an absurd requirement for school buses in a state that sees these kinds of low temperatures every year."It would be absurd, except that this happened in Bloomington, therefore it makes total sense. Bloomington is the home of Indiana University with more Ph.D.'s per capita than the rest of the state. You can see how smart they are. They're fighting global warming by having their kids freeze while waiting on school buses that are powered by a gov't subsidized/unsustainable fuel. Genius!
justpbobFeb 12, 2009
Stick to helicopters, Troika37. Biodiesel was not the culprit in the Bloomington bus freezeup -- it was the diesel portion of the fuel. Look it up.