Head of EPA joins governor, La Crosse mayor to promote electric buses

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Wisconsin is “ahead of the curve” in trying to get away from fossil fuels.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan toured downtown La Crosse on an electric MTU bus Wednesday, along with Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds and other government officials.

Regan told an audience at the MTU bus barn on Isle La Plume that clean mass transit is part of a zero-emission plan that Washington, D.C., is working on.

The plan also includes clean-running freight trucks and new vehicle pollution standards.

Regan’s stop in La Crosse comes less than a year after President Joe Biden also visited the MTU to promote infrastructure policy.

Regan and Evers also visited West Salem, where construction is taking place on a sewer treatment plant.

Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Sec. Preston Cole and US House Rep. Ron Kind (D-La Crosse) were also part of the convoy.