Postal Service Defies Biden Administration, Shifting Ahead With Plan To Purchase Fuel-Powered Mail Vehicles

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Topline

The U.S. Postal Service will proceed with an $11.3 billion plan to interchange its getting old mail vehicles with largely gas-powered new automobiles, the company introduced Wednesday, with Postmaster Normal Louis DeJoy ignoring calls from the Biden administration to buy extra electrical automobiles.

Key Details

USPS will “[proceed] with subsequent steps” in its plan to interchange its mail vehicles after finishing a required examine of the proposal’s environmental influence, the company introduced Wednesday.

USPS intends to spend $11.3 billion to interchange its present mail vehicles with as much as 165,000 new automobiles over the subsequent 10 years—solely 10% of that are assured to be electrical automobiles, whereas the others would have gas-powered engines.

That goes towards President Joe Biden’s govt order directing federal automobiles to be transformed to “clear and zero-emissions automobiles” by 2035, and the Guardian notes the brand new gas-powered automobiles would have worse gas effectivity (8.2 miles per gallon) than essentially the most gas-guzzling pickup vehicles.

The Environmental Safety Company and White Home Council on Environmental High quality wrote to USPS in early February asking it to rethink the plan, with the EPA saying its environmental influence assertion for the brand new vehicles was “severely poor” and the company had “systematically and considerably underestimated” the emissions from its new automobiles.

DeJoy has defended the plan, saying shopping for extra electrical automobiles is unrealistic given the company’s monetary situation and USPS was “compelled to behave prudently within the curiosity of the American public.”

DeJoy mentioned in a assertion Wednesday the company would pursue shopping for extra electrical automobiles “as extra funding – from both inner or congressional sources – turns into out there,” however the truck plan “must hold shifting ahead” within the meantime.

Large Quantity

$900 million. That’s the quantity of local weather harm the USPS automobile plan would trigger based mostly on the current “social price of carbon dioxide,” EPA Affiliate Administrator Vicki Arroyo projected in her letter to USPS.

Essential Quote

“As we now have reiterated all through this course of, our dedication to an electrical fleet stays formidable given the urgent automobile and security wants of our getting old fleet in addition to our fragile monetary situation,” DeJoy mentioned in an announcement Wednesday. “The women and men of the U.S. Postal Service have waited lengthy sufficient for safer, cleaner automobiles.”

Chief Critic

“The Postal Service’s proposal as at the moment crafted represents a vital misplaced alternative to extra quickly cut back the carbon footprint of one of many largest authorities fleets on the planet,” Arroyo wrote within the EPA’s letter to USPS, noting the plan is “plainly inconsistent with worldwide, nationwide, and lots of state GHG emissions discount targets” and “has important implications for the nation’s air high quality and public well being.”

What To Watch For

What impact this can have on DeJoy. The controversy over the mail vehicles has sparked renewed calls from Democratic lawmakers for him to resign or be fired, with Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) saying the truck snafu is an “monumental instance” of why he believes DeJoy needs to be ousted. DeJoy can solely be fired by the USPS Board of Governors, nevertheless—which stays unlikely to kick him out. Although the board will quickly be made up by a majority of Biden appointees after the president nominated two extra board members in November, not less than one among them is a Republican, and it’s unclear whether or not among the others could be on board with firing DeJoy. The mail truck plan might also get tied up in litigation, as Bloomberg notes environmental teams are more likely to sue USPS in an effort to cease it.

Key Background

The mail truck proposal is the newest in a collection of controversial strikes by DeJoy, a longtime GOP donor and Trump ally, which have drawn Democratic ire. The postmaster basic imposed modifications at USPS quickly after taking workplace in summer season 2020 that sparked widespread mail delays and angered Democrats who feared the slowdown would influence mail-in ballots. Whereas these modifications had been in the end reversed, DeJoy then invited new criticism with a 10-year plan for USPS that slows down some mail supply, which went into impact in October over objections from Democrats and the Postal Regulatory Fee. Congress is shifting ahead with a USPS reform invoice that might take away a number of of the main roadblocks which have hindered the company’s funds, although the Senate’s efforts to cross the bipartisan laws have stalled after Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) stopped the chamber final week from continuing with a vote.

Additional Studying

Biden officers push to carry up $11.3 billion USPS truck contract, citing local weather harm (Washington Publish)

DeJoy defends plan to interchange USPS fleet with gas-powered vehicles, citing ‘dire monetary situation’ (CNN)

US postal service beneath fireplace for plan to spend $11.3bn on gas-powered fleet (Guardian)



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