Biden urges against USPS plan to spend billions on gas vehicles

The Biden administration on Wednesday tried to halt the U.S. Postal Service’s plan to spend as much as $11.3 billion to exchange its supply fleet with 1000’s of gas-powered automobiles, arguing that the automobiles will worsen local weather change and public well being.

The EPA and the White Home Council on Environmental High quality, in a letter to the Postal Service, urged the Postal Service to conduct an up to date and extra detailed technical evaluation and maintain a public listening to on its plan.

The Postal Service’s plan would blunt the president’s pledge to exchange its federal fleet of 600,000 automobiles and vehicles to electrical energy and slash the federal government’s carbon emissions by 65% by 2030. The administration has additionally dedicated to chopping U.S. greenhouse fuel emissions almost in half by the tip of the last decade and transition the financial system to net-zero emissions by mid-century.

“The Postal Service’s proposal as at the moment crafted represents an important misplaced alternative to extra quickly scale back the carbon footprint of one of many largest authorities fleets on the earth,” Vicki Arroyo, affiliate administrator of coverage for the EPA, wrote in a letter.

“The Postal Service’s proposal additionally has vital implications for the nation’s air high quality and public well being,” Arroyo wrote. “The cleaner the Postal Service automobiles which can be deployed in communities throughout the nation, the extra air high quality and public well being might be improved.”

The information was first reported by The Washington Submit.

Regardless of an increase in electrical automobiles gross sales within the U.S. lately, the transportation sector is among the largest contributors to U.S. greenhouse fuel emissions. It represents about one-third of emissions yearly.

The Postal Service operates about 230,000 automobiles, which is roughly one-third of the federal government fleet. Postmaster Common Louis DeJoy, who was nominated to the board by former President Donald Trump, final 12 months dedicated to a plan to transform solely 10% of its new vehicles to electrical energy.

“This motion will lock in extremely polluting automobiles for at the least 30 extra years (past 2050) and is inconsistent with nationwide, and plenty of state and native objectives for GHG emissions reductions,” Arroyo wrote.

A few of the Postal Service’s main rivals, together with Walmart and FedEx, have dedicated to attaining all-electric fleets by 2040. Moreover, Amazon and UPS have dedicated to net-zero emissions by 2040 and 2050, respectively.

Environmental teams have sharply criticized the Postal Service’s plan to not buy an all-electric fleet.

Katherine García, direct of the Sierra Membership’s Clear Transportation for All marketing campaign, praised the administration’s push in opposition to the plan and referred to as the shift to an all-electric Postal Service fleet a “no-brainer.”

“Electrical mail vehicles will scale back noise, air and local weather air pollution in communities throughout the nation, whereas slashing fueling prices,” García mentioned. “There’s no purpose USPS needs to be locking in many years of fossil gas consumption by contemplating a fleet of 90 p.c gas-powered vehicles.”

The Postal Service didn’t instantly reply to CNBC’s inquiry.