USPS - Electrify the fleet! 30 Second Action Item.

 

Dear Fellow Supporters of the Environment & of USPS Going Green & Saving Money,

Hello!

I would like to ask for thirty seconds of your time to take an impactful action.

Below you will find a letter to USPS' Environmental Counsel.

The letter points out that:

  - USPS violated the National Environmental Policy Act by awarding the contract for new mail trucks before completing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS),

  - asks that the contract be placed on hold until the EIS is completed, and

  - asks that the EIS include an evaluation of purchasing 100% electric vehicles.

This letter was produced by an organization called Elders Climate Action. If you have time to read it, please do. It's very thorough and well written.

 

My request is that you copy the letter (below) into a new email and send it to USPS' Environmental Counsel. 

Your email must be received by USPS before April 5th. Please send it today. :)

Thank you for doing this.

Best wishes,

Meldan

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Copy and paste the text below in a new email and add your name as the signature

Email to: NEPA@USPS.gov

Subject line: Comments on United States Postal Service’s March 4, 2021 Notice of Intent to Prepare Environmental Impact Statement for Purchase of up to 165,000 Next Generation Delivery Vehicles

 

Mr. Davon Collins
Environmental Counsel
United States Postal Service
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW
Washington, DC 20260–6201

 

Dear Mr. Collins,

I am a citizen climate activist and a breather of the air in a place served by USPS delivery vehicles. And I am one of millions committed to ending the Climate Crisis and the air pollution pandemic that contributes to premature death and disease in America. We call on the USPS to join us in building a just and sustainable future for our children, our grandchildren, and all children. I write to comment on the Notice of Intent referred to above, as well as on the contract recently awarded to Oshkosh Defense.

The award of the purchase contract to Oshkosh Defense before completion of an Environmental Impact Statement violates the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

In its March 4, 2021 Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), the USPS states that it has not yet decided on the mix of powertrain for the new delivery vehicles and will evaluate the environmental impacts of 3 alternative powertrains for the vehicles: (1) a mix of internal combustion and battery electric powertrains; (2) existing “commercial off the shelf” vehicles; and (3) no action. Yet USPS News announced on February 23, 2021 that the USPS has already awarded the contract for the delivery vehicles to Oshkosh Defense, which builds only internal combustion engines.

NEPA prohibits any agency from taking action that will have a significant impact on the human environment before it completes the NEPA process, including an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). It prohibits any agency from making irreversible commitments of resources before it provides information to the decisionmaker and citizens in a Record of Decision (ROD) after an environmental impact statement. No EIS has been completed and no ROD has been issued. Therefore, the award of the purchase contract to Oshkosh Defense must be reversed pending completion of an EIS according to NEPA rules.

The EIS as described in the NOI will violate NEPA rules requiring evaluation of the “environmentally preferable alternative” which is, of course, vehicles that do not contribute to unhealthy air pollution. 

NEPA Section 101(a) says that each ROD must identify all alternatives considered and specify which alternative is “environmentally preferable” (that is, the one that will promote national environmental policy as expressed in NEPA Section 101). NEPA Section 101(a) requires the use of “all practicable means and measures…” to “create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony…” Clearly NEPA requires consideration of the health impacts of air pollution which deny many Americans any hope of “productive harmony,” and consideration of the impact that greenhouse gases will have on the stability of the climate and the consequential impacts on the environment, human health and the sustainability of natural systems on which human civilization depends.

The Energy Information Administration reported that the transportation sector of our economy contributes 37% of total U.S. CO2 emissions in 2019. Transportation CO2 emissions have been rising by nearly 3% annually for the last 5 years. Before the COVID pandemic, scientists estimated that air pollution from burning carbon would take an estimated 242,000 lives in 2020, the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. The science is clear: air pollution harms health across the entire lifespan, damaging lungs, hearts, brains, skin and other organs … affecting virtually all systems in the human body.

In light of NEPA’s clear intent to protect present and future generations of Americans, the USPS must consider the option of an electric delivery fleet that will cut emissions immediately and become pollution free when the grid has been decarbonized. We cannot have a postal service that delivers our mail while polluting our air, damaging our health, and threatening our future. The NOI must be revised to include the environmentally preferable alternative of 100% electric delivery vehicles.

Purchase of 100% Electric Vehicles is Practicable and Will be Effective.

NEPA Section 101(a) requires the use of “all practicable means and measures” to “create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.” What does “practicable” mean with respect to USPS Next Generation Delivery Vehicles? “Practicable” is defined by Meriam Webster as “capable of being put into practice or of being done or accomplished: synonymous with FEASIBLE; and capable of being used: synonymous with USABLE.”

For-profit U.S. companies with operations similar to those of the USPS, like FedEx, Amazon and UPS, are demonstrating that a 100% electric delivery fleet is both feasible (capable of being put into practice) and usable (capable of being used), by converting their delivery fleets to electric vehicles: (a) FedEx has issued detailed plans for its entire pickup and delivery fleet to be zero-emission electric vehicles by 2040.; (b) Amazon already uses electric delivery vehicles and plans to have 100,000 on the road by 2030; and (c) United Parcel Service has already begun using small zero-emissions vans similar to the type that the US Postal Service needs, with plans to have 10,000 by the middle of the decade.

The US Postal Service can do the same. And this very practicable alternative of a 100% electric vehicle delivery fleet will also be effective in reducing the health impacts of air pollution, accomplishing NEPA’s goal to “create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.”

Therefore, I ask that the USPS take no action on the award of the contract for purchase of delivery vehicles until completion of the NEPA process, including a proper Environmental Impact Statement. I also ask that the NOI for the Environmental Impact Statement be revised to include, as the environmentally preferable alternative, evaluation of the option to purchase 100% electric powertrain delivery vehicles.

Thank you for your consideration of my comment on this important matter.

[Insert your name, City, State, Zip]

 

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https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/usps-replace-the-delivery-fleet-with-electric-trucks-not-gas-1

 

 

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Meldan Heaslip started this petition on MoveOn. If there's an issue close to your heart that you'd like to campaign on, you can start your campaign here.