April 29, 2022 – Sixteen states as well as several prominent climate activists sued the United States Postal Service this week over its plan to purchase 148,000 gas-guzzling delivery trucks over the next decade, alleging the agency failed to consider the environmental impact of its decision.
The states accuse the USPS of only performing a “cursory environmental review to justify the decision to replace 90 percent of its delivery fleet with fossil fuel-powered, internal combustion engine vehicles, despite other available, environmentally preferable alternatives,” the lawsuit reads. “In doing so, the Postal Service failed to comply with even the most basic requirements of [National Environmental Policy Act].”
In response, the USPS defended its practices, noting that it remains open to increasing its order for more electric vehicles in the future should additional funding become available to do so. Congress recently approved a $50 billion rescue package for USPS, which has lost more than $90 billion since 2007.
