Next-gen USPS mail trucks are only capable of 8.6 mpg, EPA says

Enlarge / The proposed replacement USPS mail truck got a lot of attention for its odd looks, but the real crime is a pathetic 8.6 mpg fuel efficiency-barely any improvement on the current vehicles.

The United States Post Office's plan to replace its aging delivery vehicles has been heavily criticized by the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Council on Environmental Quality. The letters, first published by The Washington Post on Tuesday, excoriate the decision to award a $482 million contract to Oshkosh Defense without properly examining the environmental impact, as required by law.

Specifically, the EPA says that the USPS's required environmental impact report "does not disclose essential information underlying the key analysis of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), underestimates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, fails to consider more environmentally protective feasible alternatives, and inadequately considers impacts on communities with environmental justice concerns."

Or, as the Chair of the CEQ wrote in a letter to Postmaster Louis DeJoy, his "agency committed to walk down a path before looking to see where the path was leading," in contravention of longstanding practices and laws.

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