Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Vice Chair Rep. Chellie Pingree, Co-Chairs Reps. Gerry Connolly, Doris Matsui, and Paul Tonko, and Vice Chairs Reps. Matt Cartwright, Alan Lowenthal, A. Donald McEachin, and Mike Quigley sent a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy decrying the U.S. Postal Service’s decision to purchase an almost-exclusively fossil fuel powered fleet as part of its Next Generation Delivery Vehicles procurement. 

“The average age of the current fleet is 30 years, which demonstrates how long vehicles purchased today may remain in active service. Any fossil fuel powered vehicle purchased today will lock in its emissions potentially past 2050, which is the date the United States has set to achieve a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy. This is why President Biden moved aggressively in his first year to establish clean federal procurement standards, particularly around the federal vehicular fleet, because he and his administration understand that the decisions we make today will have a long-lasting impact,” the letter sent today reads in part.

“This is the moment for the federal government to step up and use its purchasing power to invest in the clean technology that is poised to drive our economy’s future. The Postal Service must be part of the solution to the climate crisis and not disregard the NEPA process and our national and international climate commitments.  Therefore, we strongly support EPA’s and CEQ’s requests for the Postal Service to prepare a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and urge you to cease moving forward with this flawed procurement plan.”

A signed copy of the letter can be found here.