SunLine Transit Agency’s Earth Day Celebration Highlights its Clean Fuels Initiatives & Announces New Sustainability Efforts

Virtual Ceremony Held Earlier Today Recognized the Agency’s Past, Present & Future Regarding Sustainability and Clean Air

(Thousand Palms) – SunLine Transit Agency hosted a special Earth Day celebration today virtually, through Facebook Live, to share highlights of how SunLine has pioneered clean fuels technologies as well as to launch new sustainability efforts.

SunLine’s Board Meeting – which is typically the fourth Wednesday of each month – was moved to today for the month of April to commemorate Earth Day and to incorporate this special virtual celebration for the public. Board members shared the SunLine story along with updates on work being done in their own cities as part of a special presentation called SunLine’s Legacy and Future: Today’s Transit for Tomorrow’s World – How SunLine is Building Sustainability for the Coachella Valley.

CEO/General Manager, Lauren Skiver, followed with a presentation about future projects such as a CEC Liquid Hydrogen Station, a new partnership with SoCalGas that will produce hydrogen from renewable natural gas at SunLine’s hydrogen fueling station, the West Coast Center of Excellence in Zero Emission Technology, proposed plans for a microgrid and a public fueling station. A new promotional video also debuted to showcase SunLine’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.

“Earth Day is the perfect time to pause and reflect on all SunLine Transit Agency has done in the past three decades to advance zero-emission technologies and focus on the exciting efforts on the horizon,” said Lauren Skiver, CEO/General Manager of SunLine Transit Agency. “We’re proud of the many ‘firsts’ SunLine is known for in the transit industry including our Hydrogen Electrolyzer – which became operational last year and is the largest hydrogen fueling station dedicated to transit in the United States. What’s more, our clean fuels fleet includes 17 fuel cell buses. Just one fuel cell bus can save hundreds of tons of greenhouse gases each year, which is equivalent to taking up 29 cars off the road or planting 5,600 trees.”

Also included in SunLine’s Earth Day event was the announcement of two new sustainability programs open to local youth: 1) The formation of a Youth Sustainability Committee; and 2) The kick-off of the 2021 Student Art Contest, which has been themed “Driving the Future of Sustainability in the Coachella Valley.”

The new Youth Sustainably Committee will be made up of Board-appointed youth with the goal of advancing healthy communities focusing on sustainability that will impact and influence the Coachella Valley Region by contributing to the implementation of initiatives and policies related to zero emission technology, emissions reduction, energy conservation, air quality, and climate adaptation and resiliency. The purpose of the Youth Sustainability Committee is to assist SunLine in implementing sustainability initiatives in fun, engaging and creative pathways. Interested students should visit SunLine.org/YouthCommittee to complete an application before the June 28, 2021 deadline.

The 6th Annual Student Art Contest is a way for local youth to learn more about the advantages of clean energy and the public transit system. With this program, students of all ages have the opportunity to enter their design for a chance to have their artwork featured on the side of a zero-emission bus. The deadline for submissions is June 14, 2021. For contest rules, eligibility information and to see a promotional video, visit SunLine.org/StudentArt.

SunLine Transit Agency’s virtual Earth Day Celebration was recorded and can be viewed at Facebook.com/SunLineTransit for anyone who was not able to tune in when it was live.

For more information, please visit SunLine.org.