30 States Sue U.S. Postal Service Over Gas-Guzzling Mail Trucks

Sixteen states and the District of Columbia are suing the U.S. Postal Service in an effort to derail the purchase of gas-guzzling mail delivery trucks after Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said adding electric-powered cars is not in the USPS budget.

The Postal Service is planning to replace the current fleet with 90% gas-powered vehicles and 10% electricity-powered vehicles.

The current USPS vehicles were manufactured between 1987 and 1994. The lawsuits argue that the new fleet will be in commission for years to come, causing irreparable environmental damages.

“The Postal Service has a historic opportunity to invest in our planet and in our future. Instead, it is doubling down on outdated technologies that are bad for our environment and bad for our communities,” read a Thursday statement from California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

“Once this purchase goes through, we’ll be stuck with more than 100,000 new gas-guzzling vehicles on neighborhood streets, serving homes across our state and across the country, for the next 30 years. There won’t be a reset button,” he added.

The Postal Service conducted an environmental review and claims it justifies its plans of implementing the new fleet.

“The Postal Service conducted a robust and thorough review and fully complied with all of our obligations under [the National Environmental Policy Act],” spokesperson Kim Frum said in a Thursday email.

They added that although the percentage of electric cars they are planning to reach is 10%, they will implement more if resources allow for it. President Joe Biden‘s Build Back Better Act has a $6 billion designation to provide funds for the Postal Service to implement electric vehicles, but the bill has stalled in the Senate.