For as much as we’ve heard Postmaster General Louis DeJoy talk about the need for “dramatic change” at U.S. Postal Service when it comes to the more disruptive elements of his 10-year plan, he has consistently resisted modernizing the postal fleet to reflect the market shift to electric vehicles. His own words just don’t seem to apply to the long overdue shift from gas guzzlers with the fuel efficiency of a Hummer to a climate-friendly 95% electric fleet built by 100% union labor.
USPS recently released its latest draft supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV) Acquisitions ahead of a public hearing Wednesday, July 26. This latest draft SEIS is the post office’s second attempt at an environmental impact statement after their first one projected gas prices to be $2 a gallon less in the future and deployed other ludicrous math to make the case for combustible vehicles, only to be sued by several different parties for their wildly inaccurate claims. Due to immense public pressure and some close White House hand-holding over the course of last year, USPS leadership shifted from committing to only 5% electric vehicles at the outset of the project to 62% as of their last announcement.