A Politico article published this week features an eye-catching headline: “Louis DeJoy: From Trump villain to Biden’s clean energy buddy.” Quoting “sources close to DeJoy,” the piece argues that the scandal-plagued Postmaster General has turned over a new leaf, and is working with Biden climate advisor John Podesta to secure an “environmental renaissance” of the Postal Service delivery fleet.
If this sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is. The article is simply another installment in DeJoy’s ongoing PR campaign to restore his tarnished image and distract the public from the long-term sabotage he has planned for USPS.
In reality, DeJoy is no climate ally – he’s the single biggest impediment to getting a fully electric vehicle (EV) and union-built postal fleet. Where the Postal Service has moved towards greater electrification, those changes have been in spite of DeJoy, not because of him. Worse, his current plans for the agency will still lock in tons of harmful and unnecessary emissions for decades to come. Meanwhile, the Postal Board of Governors – the only entity that could oust DeJoy – has failed to fire him thanks to Biden’s choice to fill two tipping-point Board seats with DeJoy enablers and keep Trump holdovers in two more slots.