ALBANY – The New York attorney general’s office has earmarked $500,000 for a program to protect thousands of schoolchildren in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties from air pollution.

The funds, from $9.5 million that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo secured from a 2007 court-ordered settlement with American Electric Power over federal Clean Air Act violations, will be used to upgrade some 140 school buses in the three counties with state-of-the-art anti-idling technologies, significantly reducing area children’s exposure to diesel emissions.

The money will fund coolant heaters on school buses to discourage engine idling. School buses often idle their engines for long periods of time in the winter to provide heat to the driver and keep the school bus warm while waiting for children. Coolant heaters allow buses to warm up without engine idling. And that will reduce the kids’ exposure to harmful air pollution.