16 US states sue postal service to make it buy electric vehicles
An individual deposits letters into a US Postal Service (USPS) collection mailbox in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, August 14, 2020
California and 15 other states that want the US Postal Service to buy more electric delivery vehicles are suing to halt purchases of thousands of gas-powered trucks as the agency modernises its mail delivery fleet.
Three separate lawsuits, filed by 16 states and environmental groups Thursday in New York and California, ask judges to order a more thorough environmental review before the Postal Service moves forward with the next-generation delivery vehicle programme.
Plaintiffs contend that buying fossil fuel-powered delivery vehicles will cause environmental harm for decades to come.
“Louis DeJoy’s gas-guzzling fleet guarantees decades of pollution with every postcard and package,” said Scott Hochberg, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, referring to the postmaster general.
Rob Bonta, Attorney General of California said that the purchase needs to be stopped before it is late.
“Once this purchase goes through, we’ll be stuck with more than 100,000 new gas-guzzling vehicles on neighborhood streets, serving homes across our state and across the country, for the next 30 years. There won’t be a reset button,” he said, as quoted in The Guardian.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) defended its actions.
“The Postal Service conducted a robust and thorough review and fully complied with all of our obligations under (the National Environmental Policy Act),” it said.