Jul 17, 2022
Did you know that the US Postal Service is replacing its mail trucks and instead of opting for clean air and going electric, it’s going with a gas-guzzling mail truck that gets an astounding 8.6 miles per gallon? They may as well deliver the mail with Hummers!
If the Postal Service bought 100 percent electric mail trucks instead, it could:
Save 110 million gallons of fuel per year
Create more clean energy jobs
Reduce air pollution in every community
Save money on truck maintenance
The legal team at Earthjustice is in court to challenge USPS’ failure to consider the environmental justice impacts of buying combustion mail trucks that will deliver pollution to every neighborhood in the country. The Postal Service has an opportunity to reverse course and upgrade to electric vehicles in order to cut dangerous air pollution across the country and help put us on a path to an all-electric future.
Transportation is the largest source of climate pollution in the United States, and air pollution from fossil fuel vehicles harms people’s health, especially in low-income communities and communities of color where government policies have deliberately concentrated transportation pollution. A no-brainer for the federal government, and an easy win to protect our lungs and the climate would be to buy 100 percent electric mail trucks instead.
The good news for our American readers is that there is an opportunity to urge the Postal Service to reverse course and go 100 percent electric instead, but they have to hear from you first. Take action with Earthjustice and tell the USPS: It’s time to lift the humble mail delivery truck to heroic status and make it electric.
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