| Dear Friend, |
| It’s time to hold Postmaster General Louis DeJoy accountable. |
| Under DeJoy’s leadership, we’ve seen the Postal Service make some inexplicable choices — from trying to shut off mail sorting machines before the 2020 election to releasing a biased and inaccurate analysis favoring gas-guzzling trucks. |
| Fortunately, we can provide more oversight. The Postal Service Board of Governors — the group of people charged with stewarding the Postal Service — are Postmaster General DeJoy’s bosses, but so far they have neglected to rein in DeJoy’s bad behavior. A large part of this lackadaisical attitude from the Board of Governors stems from a prevalence of Trump-appointed members, including two whose terms are expiring in December. President Biden can — and should — preemptively appoint two new members to fill these seats as soon as the terms of the Trump loyalists expire. |
| We desperately need this new leadership at the Postal Service to keep DeJoy from making bad decisions. Without proper oversight, our hope for a fully electric, union-built Postal Service fleet might have to wait decades. Communities across the country will keep breathing in toxic exhaust while the planet continues to bake. |
| Fortunately, momentum is on our side. After the Postal Service announced its intention to make its new purchases 40% electric, Congress also approved $3 billion for electric postal trucks — a historic investment that should push the agency to fully electrify the fleet. But, to get to 100%, we need President Biden to swiftly nominate new Board of Governors members who will ensure that the additional funds will go towards additional electric trucks, not the electric trucks that were already promised. |
| President Biden made a commitment to fight the climate crisis and electrify the federal fleet — and he’d be breaking that promise if he failed to electrify our postal trucks. The Postal Service fleet makes up 30% of the federal government’s fleet and consumes more than a hundred million gallons of gasoline per year. Investing in more combustion mail trucks would not only accelerate the climate crisis, but also consign every community to heightened levels of air pollution. |
| With just eight years to cut our emissions by 50%, President Biden needs to ask himself whether the Postal Service fleet is going to be part of the solution or a liability. Sitting by while Trump-appointed members of the Board of Governors allow Postmaster General DeJoy to sabotage our future is not acceptable. |
| President Biden can turn this around quickly by nominating pro-electrification members to the Board of Governors. Urge him to begin work to vet and nominate qualified members today. |
@LASmogGuy
