华盛顿-众议院监督委员会的民主党人正在寻求对美国邮政服务计划进行调查，以用主要是汽油动力的车辆取代老化的邮政卡车。
该计划在很大程度上忽视了白宫关于用电动汽车补充邮政服务车队的呼吁，并受到了拜登政府、民主党议员和环保人士的尖锐批评，他们表示，该计划远远没有达到乔·拜登总统应对气候变化的目标。
在周一的一封信中，监督小组的民主党人要求该机构的监察长调查邮政服务在将一份为期10年的合同授予威斯康星州奥什科什防务公司(Oshkosh Defense)时，是否遵守了《国家环境政策法》和其他法律，该公司将提供多达16.5万辆新的邮政卡车。
只有10%的初始订单将用于电动汽车;剩下的90%将使用传统的汽油发动机。
美国环境保护署(Environmental Protection Agency)、白宫环境质量委员会(White House Council on Environmental Quality)和“众多环境利益相关者”提出了担忧，认为美国邮政管理局(post Service)在签发合同时没有履行其在NEPA的义务，议员们在给美国邮政总局(post Service)监察长塔米·惠特科姆(Tammy Whitcomb)的一封信中表示。
议员们写道，“鉴于此次收购中的重大公众利益，以及环保局和白宫确定的环境分析中的重大缺陷，”国会了解邮政服务是否恰当地履行了法定的环境义务，这一点至关重要。
这封信由五名民主党议员签署，包括该委员会主席、纽约州众议员卡罗琳·马洛尼(Carolyn Maloney)和弗吉尼亚州政府运作小组委员会主席格里·康诺利(Gerry Connolly)。
议员们表示，他们强烈支持为邮政服务车队购买电动汽车，称这将“显著减少排放，并将邮政服务定位为美国的环境领导者”
一位发言人说，监察长办公室周一收到了这封信，正在进行审查。
邮政服务授予Oshkosh Defense一份价值110亿美元的合同，在10年内更换其23万辆汽车。该公司表示，将在南卡罗来纳州重新配置的仓库中生产下一代送货车辆，创造1000个新工作岗位。
邮政服务上个月表示，它认为它已经履行了所有义务，尽管受到广泛批评，但仍在前进。
该机构“仔细审查并采纳了”来自环保局和白宫关于新合同的“反馈”，并认为“没有法律或其他依据来推迟(车辆更换)计划，”发言人Kim Frum说。
Frum表示，新合同将从2023年开始交付5000辆电动汽车，“通过引入更安全、更环保的汽车，提供显著的环境效益”。她补充说，“如果有额外的资金可用”，合同中的灵活性允许更多的电动汽车。
在他们的信中，立法者引用了环保局提出的一系列问题，包括指控合同是在环境审查完成前授予的，以及邮政服务在完成审查时省略了气候变化和其他问题的重要数据。
美国环保署在2月2日的一封信中说，USPS的审查“低估了新车队的温室气体排放”，“未能考虑更环保的可行替代方案，也没有充分考虑对环境正义问题社区的影响”。
美国环保署称该提案“是一个失去的重要机会，无法更快地减少世界上最大的政府车队之一的碳足迹。邮政服务车队包括23万多辆车，几乎是联邦政府车队的三分之一。
这种新型汽车比已经使用了30年或更长时间的现有车型更加环保，但大多数将由汽油驱动。
环保组织地球正义(Earthjustice)的律师阿德里安·马丁斯说，一个电气化的车队每年可以节省大约1.35亿加仑的燃料，他敦促拜登政府迫使邮政服务暂停或推迟合同，并制定一个更加环保的计划。
美国邮政局长路易斯·德霍伊(Louis DeJoy)是前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的共和党捐助者和盟友，他表示，鉴于其“可怕的财政状况”，10%的EV产量是邮政服务所能做到的最好水平。DeJoy说，将整个USPS车队转换成电池供电的电动汽车还需要33亿美元。
邮政服务的决定与拜登在2035年前将所有联邦政府车辆转换为零排放车型的目标相冲突。邮政服务由董事会控制，不接受总统的命令。拜登提名了两个人在董事会任职，但他们尚未得到确认，这使得该委员会处于共和党主席罗曼·马丁内斯(Roman Martinez)的控制之下。
House Dems seek probe of USPS plan for new mail truck fleet
WASHINGTON -- Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are seeking an investigation into a U.S. Postal Service plan to replace its aging mail trucks with mostly gasoline-powered vehicles.
The plan largely ignores White House calls to replenish the mail-service fleet with electric vehicles and has drawn sharp criticism from the Biden administration, Democratic lawmakers and environmentalists, who say it falls far short of President Joe Biden’s goals to address climate change.
In a letter Monday, Democrats on the oversight panel asked the agency's inspector general to investigate whether the Postal Service complied with the National Environmental Policy Act and other laws when awarding a 10-year contract to Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Defense to supply up to 165,000 new mail trucks.
Only 10% of the initial order will be for EVs; the remaining 90% will use traditional gasoline-powered engines.
The Environmental Protection Agency, the White House Council on Environmental Quality and “numerous environmental stakeholders” have raised concerns that the Postal Service did not meet its NEPA obligations in issuing the contract, the lawmakers said in a letter to Tammy Whitcomb, the Postal Service inspector general.
“Given the substantial public interest in this acquisition and the significant deficiencies" in the environmental analysis identified by EPA and the White House, "it is critical that Congress understand whether the Postal Service properly met its statutory environmental obligations,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter is signed by five Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York, the panel's chair, and Gerry Connolly of Virginia, chairman of a subcommittee on government operations.
The lawmakers said they strongly support purchase of electric vehicles for the Postal Service fleet, saying it would "significantly cut emissions and position the Postal Service as an environmental leader” in the U.S.
A spokeswoman said the inspector general's office received the letter Monday and was reviewing it.
The Postal Service awarded Oshkosh Defense a contract worth up to $11 billion over 10 years to replace its 230,000-vehicle fleet. The company has said it will make the Next Generation Delivery Vehicles at a reconfigured warehouse in South Carolina, creating 1,000 new jobs.
The Postal Service said last month that it believes it has met all its obligations and is moving forward despite widespread criticism.
The agency “carefully reviewed and incorporated feedback" from EPA and the White House regarding the new contract and believes “there is no legal or other basis to delay the (vehicle-replacement) program,″ said spokeswoman Kim Frum.
The new contract will deliver 5,000 electric vehicles beginning in 2023 and "provides significant environmental benefits through the introduction of safer and more environmentally friendly vehicles,'' Frum said. Flexibility built into the contract allows for more electric vehicles "should additional funding become available,'' she added.
In their letter, lawmakers cited a host of concerns raised by EPA, including allegations that the contract was awarded before the environmental review was completed, and that the Postal Service omitted important data on climate change and other issues in completing the review.
The USPS review “underestimates greenhouse gas emissions” of the new fleet, "fails to consider more environmentally protective feasible alternatives and inadequately considers impacts on communities with environmental justice concerns,'' the EPA said in a Feb. 2 letter.
The EPA called the proposal "a crucial lost opportunity to more rapidly reduce the carbon footprint of one of the largest government fleets in the world.'' The mail-service fleet comprises more than 230,000 vehicles, nearly one-third of the federal government’s overall fleet.
The new vehicles are greener than current models, which have been in use for three decades or more, but most will be powered by gasoline.
An electrified fleet would save about 135 million gallons of fuel per year, said Adrian Martinez, an attorney for the environmental group Earthjustice who has urged the Biden administration to force the Postal Service to suspend or delay the contract and develop a more eco-friendly plan.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Republican donor and ally of former President Donald Trump, has said the 10% EV production is the best the Postal Service can do, given its "dire financial condition.” An additional $3.3 billion would be needed convert the entire USPS fleet to battery-powered electrics, DeJoy said.
The Postal Service decision conflicts with Biden’s goal to convert all of the federal government’s vehicles to zero-emissions models by 2035. The Postal Service is controlled by a board of governors and does not take orders from the president. Biden has nominated two people to serve on the board, but they have not been confirmed, leaving the panel under control of a Republican chairman, Roman Martinez.
