WASHINGTON -- A year after being lauded for its plan to replace thousands of aging, gas-powered mail trucks with a mostly electric fleet, the U.S.Postal Service is facing congressional attempts to strip billions in federal EV funding.In June, the Senate parliamentarian blocked a Republican proposal in a major tax-and-spending bill to sell off the agency's new electric vehicles and infrastructure and revoke remaining federal money.
But efforts to halt the fleet’s shift to clean energy continue in the name of cost savings.Donald Maston, president of the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, said canceling the program now would have the opposite effect, squandering millions of dollars.“I think it would be shortsighted for Congress to now suddenly decide they’re going to try to go backwards and take the money away for the EVs or stop that process because that’s just going to be a bunch of money on infrastructure that’s been wasted," he said.Beyond that, many in the scientific community fear the government could pass on an opportunity to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to global warming when urgent action is needed.A 2022 University of Michigan study found the new electric postal vehicles could cut total greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20 million tons over the predicted, cumulative 20-year lifetime of the trucks.That's a fraction of the more than 6,000 million metric tons emitted annually in the United States, said professor Gregory A.
Keoleian, co-director of the university's Center for Sustainable Systems.But he said the push toward electric vehicles is critical and needs to accelerate, given the intensifying impacts of climate change.
“We’re already falling short of goals for reducing emissions,” Keoleian said.“We’ve been making progress, but the actions being taken or proposed will really reverse decarbonization progress that has been made to date.”Many GOP lawmakers share President Donald Trump's criticism of the Biden-er...