Voters in the Bemus Point Central School District aren’t the first to reject New York state’s mandate to begin buying electric school buses by 2027.

We’re sure they won’t be the last, either.

It should be obvious after the litany of such resolutions turned down throughout the state earlier this summer that voters have serious concerns about the cost of the buses, reliability in the colder winter months and a nagging feeling they’re being pushed into something they’re not comfortable with.

The only unfortunate part of Bemus Point voters rejecting the electric school bus bond anticipation note is that the district was essentially getting two of the mandated electric buses for free. Some will express disappointment in the voters for not accepting the “free” taxpayer money. We choose to cast an eye toward Albany and Washington, D.C., and ask if they’re ready yet to push back the arbitrary deadline they set. State requirements are that new school bus purchases be zero emission by 2027 and all school buses in operation be zero emission by 2035.

Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, has introduced legislation (S.8467) in the state Senate to both eliminate the zero-emission bus mandate as well as authorize the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of converting school busses to zero-emission vehicles. Borrello specifically wants NYSERDA to analyze the conversion for rural, suburban and urban school districts.

His bill makes as much sense now as it did when it was introduced back in February. The state’s approach to electric buses – and its entire Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act agenda – is to set deadlines that aren’t realistic and then hurry to meet them.

Democrats are leading alright. The question is whether they’re leading us to clean water or runoff from the manure pile – and if they’ll change course if it’s the latter.