WASHINGTON (AP) – A year after being praised for plans to exchange thousands of aging, Gas-powered mail trucks with mostly electric fleetsthe US postal service faces Congressional attempts to strip billions of dollars in federal EV funding.
In June, the senator blocked Republican proposals on major tax and spending bills for the sale of government agencies New electric vehicles and infrastructure Cancel the remaining federal money. However, efforts to halt the fleet’s shift to clean energy continue in the name of cost reductions.
Donald Maston, president of the National Association of Rural Pastors, said canceling the program is now the opposite effect and wastes millions of dollars.
“I think it’s myopia that Congress is now suddenly the one who decides to go backwards and try and take the money for the EV or stop the process.
Beyond that, many people in the scientific community fear that governments can communicate opportunities to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to global warming when urgent action is needed.
Electrified vehicles reduce emissions
University of Michigan 2022 study It has been found that new electric and postal vehicles can reduce total greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20 million tons than the expected 20-year life expectancy of trucks. This is just a small portion of the over 6,000 million metric tons released in the United States each year, says Professor Gregory A. Keoleian, co-director of the university’s Center for Sustainable Systems. But he said pushing to electric vehicles is important and needs to accelerate. Enhanced impact of Climate change.
“We already Not reaching the target To reduce emissions, “We have made progress, but we are actually reversing or suggesting the decarbonization progress we have made.”
Many GOP lawmakers share it President Donald Trump criticizes Biden-era Green Energy Push& says postal services should stick to mail delivery.
“It’s pointless to have a very large investment in the postal service in all of its electric power,” said Sen. Joni Ernst of R-Iowa. She said she would pursue legislation to withdraw the remaining $3 billion of the remaining inflation reduction laws allocated to cover the $10 billion cost of new postal vehicles.
Ernst calls the EV initiative “boondoggle” and “examples of waste textbooks,” citing delays, high costs and concerns over cold weather performance.
“You always evaluate the program and see if they’re working. But the rate at which the companies that provide those vehicles can produce them, they’re late in schedule and they’re never able to fulfill that contract,” Ernst said during a recent appearance at the Iowa State Fair, referring to Wisconsin-based Oshkosh defense.
“For now,” she added.
Corn-based ethanol is a boon for Iowa farmers, but efforts to reverse courses have the support of other Republicans.
Rep. Michael Cloud of R-Texas, co-sponsor of the rollback effort, said EV orders should be cancelled as the project “delivered delays, defective trucks and surged costs.”
Postal Services claim that next-generation delivery vehicles (NGDV production delays are not “very modest.”
“The production ramp-up is intended to be very slow in the early months so that potentially modest production or supplier problems can be successfully resolved,” spokesman Kim Fulham said.
EVs help modernize efforts
The independent, self-funded federal agency, primarily paid through postage and product sales, is in a $40 billion, 10-year modernization, financial stabilization plan. EV efforts had full support from Democratic President Joe Biden. Who swore Move towards the entire electric federal fleet of cars and trucks.
The “delivery” plan dates back to 1987 and calls for modernising Grumman long-life vehicles, particularly Groundman long-life vehicles, which are fueled to 9 mpg. The vehicle is well past its 24 years’ lifespan and tends to go out of breakdowns and even fires.
“Our mechanics are miraculous workers,” said Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union. “The parts are not available. They manufacture them. They do their best they can.”
The Postal Service, announced in 2022, plans to deploy at least 66,000 electric vehicles by 2028, including years of deliberation and deliberation and ready-made models. Criticism It was moving slowly to reduce emissions. By 2024, the institutions will Electricize the largest fleet With the federal government.
Construction of a new mail truck
In 2021, Oshkosh Defense was awarded the contract for up to 165,000 battery-electric and internal combustion engine next-generation vehicles over a decade.
The first truck of a truck whose hood looks strange, similar to a duck bill, He began serving in Georgia last year. Designed for larger package capacity, the truck is equipped with airbags, blind spot monitoring, collision sensors, 360-degree cameras and anti-lock brakes.
There’s also the comfort of the new creature: air conditioning.
Douglas Rape, a special assistant to the National Association of Letter Careers and former Airlines Chairman, is one of many postal workers who have a say in the new design. He is amazed at how Oshkosh designed and built new vehicles and transformed the old North Carolina warehouse into a factory.
“I was on a shelf in that building,” he said. “And now it’s all about being a fully functional plant built in-house. They push their bodies there and do all the assembly. That’s really surprising in my opinion.”
Where things are standing now
The agency has ordered 51,500 NGDVs, including 35,000 battery-powered vehicles so far. To date, we have received 300 battery vehicles and 1,000 gas-powered vehicles.
Former Postmaster Louis DeJoy said in 2022 he expects to purchase a delivery vehicle with mostly zero emissions by 2026.
Postal Service spokesman Frum said the planned purchase of NGDV was “carefully considered from a business standpoint” and was deployed in money-saving routes and facilities.
The agency also received more than 8,200 of the 9,250 Ford E-Transit electric vehicles ordered, she said.
Ernst said it’s fine for postal services to use EVs that they already purchased.
“But what do you know? We need to be smart about how we are providing services through the federal government,” she said. “And that wasn’t a wise move.”
Maxwell Woody, the lead author of the University of Michigan studies, created the opposite case.
He said the mail vehicles start to start with low average speeds, more stops and allowing for resilient brakes. The route averages less than 30 miles, and is known in advance, making planning easier.
“This is the perfect application for electric vehicles,” he said.
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Hannah Finger Hatt, Associated Press Writer in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.
