WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Chuck Grassley
(R-Iowa) led several of his colleagues in urging President Joe Biden to
continue utilizing liquid fuel vehicles in the federal fleet, including
vehicles used by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). In a
letter
to Biden, the senators take aim at the administration’s push to transition the
entire federal fleet to electric vehicles (EVs) – citing a USPS review that
found an all-EV approach would be impractical for at least 12,500 delivery
routes across the country.
“A complete transition to EVs is not only
unnecessary to achieve emissions reduction goals and harmful to consumers, it
is also constrained by a broad array of obstacles. These issues include the
cost to consumers, battery efficiency and range, infrastructure requirements,
and electrical grid constraints,” the
lawmakers wrote.
Grassley and his colleagues also warn the
administration against making a unilateral decision on EVs by ignoring costs
and national security concerns.
“Furthermore, the supply chain for
critical minerals and other materials used for electric vehicles is largely
dominated by China. In addition, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has run up the
cost of nickel resulting in temporary suspension of trading and is adding more
than $1,000 to the cost of EVs. These issues must not be ignored,” the lawmakers continued.
The group of senators – representing the
top biofuel and oil producing states in the nation – call on Biden to embrace
American energy over EVs, which will make the U.S. more reliant on China.
“Domestic producers have not always
agreed on motor fuel policy, but we strongly agree that USPS and the federal
fleet must continue to recognize the benefits of liquid motor fuels in order to
reduce emissions in a timely and cost-effective fashion. We urge you to stop
pressuring USPS and other federal government agencies to adopt an all-EV
mandate and, instead, support an all of-the-above approach that takes advantage
of the many benefits of U.S. produced liquid fuels,” the lawmakers concluded.
Grassley’s letter was signed by Sens.
John Cornyn (R-Texas), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Kevin Cramer
(R-N.D.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Jerry Moran
(R-Kan.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.).
Read the full letter by clicking
HERE.
-30-