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In the latest installment of “As the Postal Service Turns,” 16 US states, 4 environmental groups and the United Auto Workers union have filed lawsuits seeking to block the US Postal Service’s plan to buy mostly gas-powered next-generation delivery vehicles, arguing that the agency failed to comply with environmental regulations.
Reuters reports that three separate lawsuits have been filed in federal courts in San Francisco and New York City. One of the defendants named is Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump supporter who has thumbed his nose at President Biden’s call for the federal vehicle fleet to be electrified.
Plaintiffs in the suits include the states of New York and California, the District of Columbia, New York City, and the environmental groups CleanAirNow, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club. The suits accuse USPS of using a flawed and unlawful environmental analysis and signing contracts to procure the gas-powered trucks before completing an environmental review.
USPS “is doubling down on outdated technologies that are bad for our environment and bad for our communities,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
The UAW also believes it’s a bad deal for American workers—the union has called out vehicle manufacturer Oshkosh for its plan to build the gas-powered vehicles using non-union workers in South Carolina, rather than at a UAW-represented facility in Oshkosh ‘s home state of Wisconsin.
In response, USPS said it has “conducted a robust and thorough review and fully complied with all of our obligations under” environmental law.
Source: Reuters
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