Jaime Horn, Jhorn@causecp.org
Larisa Manescu, larisa.manescu@sierraclub.org
Washington, D.C. – Today, Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12), Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Chairman Gerry Connolly (VA-11) convened with labor leaders and climate advocates for a press conference to deliver over 150,000 petitions to the United States Postal Service (USPS) Board of Governors and over 280,000 emails to Congress urging the USPS reconsider their current plan and update their nationwide fleet with electric, union-built vehicles.
Speakers urged the USPS to pursue an equitable transition to clean vehicles built by well-paid union workers. This transition would mark a significant commitment toward electric vehicles and would help mitigate the effects of climate change, reduce pollution, stimulate local economies, protect workers’ health, and benefit workers. A recent Inspector General report found that zero-emissions vehicles would be cheaper for the USPS over the full life cycle of the fleet. Additionally, the same report found that 99 percent of USPS routes are suitable for zero-emission vehicles.
“For the sake of our environment and our future, I am dedicated to using my gavel as Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform to help transition the Postal Service to an electric fleet,” said Chairwoman Maloney. “Yesterday, I held a hearing to examine the benefits of electrifying the fleet and to urge the Postal Service to make this a top priority. I will continue to conduct oversight on this important issue, and I look forward to considering additional steps Congress can take to support the Postal Service in building a clean electric fleet.”
In 2021, the USPS awarded a multi-billion-dollar contract to Oshkosh Defense, a Wisconsin-based defense contractor that has built a wide range of military vehicles for the US military, to build its Next Generation Delivery Vehicle fleet. Though the deal was initially celebrated by Oshkosh’s UAW-organized workforce in Wisconsin, it has become clear that the new contract misses the mark on climate, and on fairness to Oshkosh’s incumbent workforce. The Next Generation Delivery Vehicle fleet will overwhelmingly consist of inefficient and polluting internal combustion engine trucks that will be built in a newly purchased warehouse in South Carolina – a move by Oshkosh that allows it to evade a decades-old contract with UAW workers in Wisconsin who are ready and eager to build the delivery vehicles of the future.
“Louis DeJoy wants to claim he doesn’t have the money to go electric, but that false argument should be marked return to sender. The fact is that electric postal trucks are cheaper and cleaner,” said Senator Ed Markey. “A new fleet of electric postal trucks would receive a stamp of approval from the American people, as it would lower costs, reduce pollution, and provide public health benefits. Switching our postal fleet to all-electric would also cut our demand for the oil and gas business model that funds Putin’s oligarchs. If we don’t get a truly next-generation electric fleet of postal trucks, we need the next generation of postal service leadership delivered express to the American people.”
“Finalization of this contract is yet another willfully shortsighted decision by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that will prevent the Postal Service from reaching its full 21st Century potential,” said Chairman Connolly. “In flagrant contradiction of President Biden’s admirable and ambitious goal to electrify the federal fleet, USPS has tethered itself to a technology that is well on its way to obsolescence – striking a devastating blow to our climate, to our effort to lead the world in green technology, and to our beloved Postal Service. This contract cannot move forward.”
“USPS is violating the Biden administration’s climate and clean air goals by moving forward with its decision to lock in decades of dirty mail delivery,” said Sierra Club President Ramón Cruz. “This infuriating and archaic contract for hundreds of thousands of fossil fuel trucks has been contested by elected officials, regulators, and environmental organizations – for good reason. There’s no need to double down on a daily dose of truck pollution when we have the technology to electrify the nation’s delivery trucks and protect our Postal Service drivers and our communities.”
The decision to sign a contract with Oshkosh Defense for non-union built, combustion engine vehicles is a disastrously bad management decision. Frontline communities disproportionately bear the negative health effects of combustion vehicle pollution, and mail carriers who drive postal trucks are particularly affected from the concentrated pollution from vehicle idling. Speakers called on the Board of Governors to immediately act to stop this catastrophic contract from moving forward in its current form.
“The USPS’s Next Generation Delivery Vehicle is an opportunity to make real investments in both a cleaner future and good union jobs,” said Cindy Estrada, Vice-President, United Auto Workers. “But, the contract as it currently stands fails on both accounts. UAW members in Oshkosh Wisconsin are experienced and eager to build an electric future for USPS.”
“The Next Generation Delivery Vehicle fleet could represent many communities’ first experiences with electric vehicle technology and USPS has the opportunity and responsibility to model for those communities how we can do this transition right,” said BlueGreen Alliance Executive Director Jason Walsh. “We need more electric delivery vehicles. We need them now. We need them built by union workers.”
“Climate change is a public health and a civil rights issue that poses a particular threat to communities of color and low-income families,” said Reverend Lennox Yearwood, President and CEO, Hip-Hop Caucus. “We need to unleash the power of renewable energy both to protect the environmental health of communities and to invest in high-quality, high-compensation jobs for working people. It’s time for everyone to stand up and tell the Postal Service this decision is unacceptable and they must reconsider while they still have an opportunity to pursue a plan that actually meets the moment on climate.”
A recording of the event is available HERE.
The following organizations participated in collecting petitions and generated emails calling for the USPS to change their contract and prioritize an equitable transition to electric vehicles and support good paying union jobs: BlueGreen Alliance, Earthjustice, Elder’s Climate Action, Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Law & Policy Center, National Resources Defense Council, Plug in America, Public Citizen, The Save the Post Office Coalition, Sierra Club, and United Auto Workers.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.