Climate Groups Sue to Stop DeJoy's 'Unacceptable' Gas-Guzzling Postal Truck Plan
The plaintiffs say the USPS proposal "will not only deliver pollution to every neighborhood in America, it's also unlawful."
JAKE JOHNSON
April 28, 2022
A coalition of green groups sued the U.S. Postal Service on Thursday over Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's plan to buy a new delivery fleet composed almost entirely of gas-powered trucks, a move that climate advocates say was justified by a "deeply flawed" environmental impact analysis.
The Postal Service's analysis was so flawed, according to the new lawsuit, that it runs afoul of the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to thoroughly assess the climate impacts of their policy decisions.
"The Postal Service's plan to purchase thousands of combustion mail trucks will not only deliver pollution to every neighborhood in America, it's also unlawful," said Adrian Martinez, a senior attorney with Earthjustice's Right to Zero campaign, said in a statement. "DeJoy's environmental process was so rickety and riddled with error that it failed to meet the basic standards of the National Environmental Policy Act."
"We're going to court to protect the millions of Americans breathing in neighborhoods overburdened with tailpipe pollution," Martinez added. "Mail delivery in this country should be electric for our health and for our future."
The USPS finalized plans to revamp its aging and downright dangerous vehicle fleet in February, prompting outrage from environmentalists and Democratic lawmakers who say DeJoy—a Trump megadonor—is flouting much-needed efforts to electrify federal vehicles. The Postal Service currently has more than 230,000 vehicles, one of the largest civilian fleets in the world.
Of the 165,000 new mail trucks the USPS is set to purchase from the Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Corporation, just 10% overall are expected to be electric.
. . .
In an interview with the Washington Post earlier this month, DeJoy—who has faced calls to resign over the vehicle contract as well as his slowdown of mail delivery—insisted that an all-electric fleet would be too costly, a narrative that critics have disputed by citing research showing 97% of USPS trucks can be replaced with electric vehicles at a lower total cost than comparable gas and diesel vehicles.
More:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/04/28/climate-groups-sue-stop-dejoys-unacceptable-gas-guzzling-postal-truck-plan
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