July, 20 2022, 01:33pm EDT
Postal Service Begins to Get the Message on Electric Mail Trucks
Pressure from public, environmental groups bears fruit with new announcement from USPS on electric mail truck procurement.
WASHINGTON
Today the U.S. postal service announced that it would be making 40% of its new mail trucks battery electric, up from the agency's plans for 10% earlier this year. The news comes after a lawsuit filed by environmental groups CleanAirNow KC and Sierra Club represented by Earthjustice, and a spate of lawsuits from the United Auto Workers, NRDC, and over a dozen state attorney generals. Earthjustice supporters have sent in over 106,000 public comments protesting the postal service's plans to procure polluting mail trucks with a harrowing mileage of 8.6 mpg with the air conditioning on.
In response to the postal service's announcement, Adrian Martinez, senior attorney on Earthjustice's Right to Zero campaign, issued the following statement:
"The facts on the ground show that mail trucks in the U.S. can and should be electric. These vehicles are amongst the easiest to electrify, as they tend to run on short, set routes, idling often. After a swift spate of lawsuits from environmental groups and UAW, inquiries from members of Congress, and a barrage of public pressure from Americans weighing in with thousands of public comments, the postal service is beginning to get the message. They're now making forty percent of their next fleet purchase battery electric.
"But this should only be the beginning - it's well past time we started replacing retiring gas trucks with electric mail trucks made right here with good, union jobs. Ultimately, the entire postal fleet needs to be electrified to deliver clean air in every neighborhood in the country and avoid volatile gas prices. The fight continues for an electrified postal delivery fleet."
Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. We bring about far-reaching change by enforcing and strengthening environmental laws on behalf of hundreds of organizations, coalitions and communities.
800-584-6460LATEST NEWS
Progressive Forces Vow 'Unprecedented Resistance' to Trump 2.0
"We're more prepared than ever to block the disastrous Trump policies we know are coming," said one climate group.
Nov 06, 2024
As voters across the United States grappled on Wednesday with the results of the presidential election, progressive organizers expressed disappointment and devastation but said they were "clear-eyed" about the road ahead: one that will require solidarity and a major mobilization to counter the policies and attacks put forward by President-elect Donald Trump.
Anthony D. Romero, executive director of ACLU, did not mince words about the "clear and present danger" Trump poses to U.S. institutions and democratic norms, noting that GOP president-elect is "dead serious" about targeting "the 'enemy within'—which, for Trump, means anyone who disagrees with him."
The ACLU fully expects Trump to seek "retribution against his political opponents and deploying federal law enforcement to shut down protests and muzzle dissent," but Romero emphasized that the 105-year-old organization has a long track record of defending freedom of speech and combating abuses of power, including during Trump's first term.
"We filed 434 legal actions against the first Trump administration, often winning landmark cases before Trump-appointed judges," said Romero. "One week into Trump's presidency, we were the first organization to challenge his Muslim ban. And when the administration sought to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census, the ACLU took that fight to the Supreme Court and won. Our litigation also stopped the inhumane practice of separating immigrant families."
The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), one of many groups that have warned a Trump victory would signal a disaster for the planet as scientists warn fossil fuel extraction must end immediately to limit planetary heating as much as possible, said the president-elect can expect to face "unprecedented resistance" from organizers.
"Trump 2.0 is going to get twice the fight from the protectors of our planet, wildlife, and basic human rights," said Kierán Suckling, executive director of CBD. "We've battled Trump from the border wall to the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, and in many cases we've won. This country's bedrock environmental laws stand strong. We're more prepared than ever to block the disastrous Trump policies we know are coming."
Romero and Suckling's defiant tones were echoed by reproductive rights organizations that have spent the past two years fighting the nationwide effects of Trump's first term, which resulted in the right-wing supermajority on the U.S. Supreme Court that overturnedRoe v. Wade, clearing the way for 21 states to impose abortion bans and extreme restrictions that have had deadly consequences for at least four women.
Despite those bans, said Destiny Lopez, acting co-CEO of the Guttmacher Institute, "more than one million abortions occurred in the United States in 2023."
"The anti-abortion movement, with Trump and [Vice President-elect JD] Vance's support, are poised to ban every single abortion going forward," said Lopez. "We're clear-eyed about what's coming. Guttmacher will meet this moment—alongside our state, national, and global partners—and mobilize all our resources to counter these attacks in pursuit of a strong, vibrant democracy that protects and upholds all of our rights."
On Tuesday, voters in seven of 10 states with abortion rights amendments on the ballot voted to protect reproductive freedom—initiatives that were strongly supported by groups such as the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR).
But with Republican lawmakers in the Senate—which will be controlled by the GOP starting in January—supporting a nationwide abortion ban, CRR president and CEO Nancy Northrup said the group is prepared for the new administration to compound the harms already done "with new, potentially far worse ones."
"The Center for Reproductive Rights is ready for this next fight," said Northrup. "We will vigorously oppose any and all attempts to roll back progress. We will scrutinize every action of the White House and federal agencies, amass the factual and legal record to counter agency actions, and work to stop harmful policies from going into effect. If they do, we will take them to court. We will vehemently fight any effort to pass a national abortion ban, to stop the provision of medication abortion by mail, to block women from crossing state lines to get care, to dismantle [United Nations] protections for reproductive rights and progress made at the national level in countries around the world, and more."
With Trump planning to further gut abortion rights, mobilize a mass deportation operation, and roll back climate regulations while keeping his promise to oil executives to expand fossil fuel drilling, journalist Mehdi Hasan of Zeteo urged all progressive organizers to make "'solidarity'... the most important word in our political vocabulary."
"Yes, a majority of American voters may have cast their votes for an unhinged racist and demagogue who is promising a 'bloody' program of mass deportation and a new and bigger 'Muslim ban,' but the rest of us need to stick together," said Hasan. "We need each other. And so, for the next four years, solidarity is the name of the game."
The term has been the rallying cry of the labor movement for generations, and United Auto Workers organizer Helen Brosnan echoed Hasan's call.
"The only way through is solidarity," said Brosnan. "We can't let what happens next divide us. We have to fight the billionaire class together."
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich did not hide his despair over Trump's victory, writing in his Substack newsletter that he was "heartbroken and scared."
But Reich urged progressives not to lose sight of "our first responsibility... to protect all those who are in harm's way," including women, immigrants, and transgender people.
How will we conduct this resistance?
By organizing our communities. By fighting through the courts. By arguing our cause through the media.
We will ask other Americans to join us—left and right, progressive and conservative, white people and people of color. It will be the largest and most powerful resistance since the American revolution.
But it will be peaceful. We will not succumb to violence, which would only give Trump and his regime an excuse to use organized violence against us.
We will keep alive the flames of freedom and the common good, and we will preserve our democracy. We will fight for the same things Americans have fought for since the founding of our nation—rights enshrined in the constitution and Bill of Rights.
The preamble to the Constitution of the United States opens with the phrase "We the people", conveying a sense of shared interest and a desire "to promote the general welfare," as the preamble goes on to say.
We the people will fight for the general welfare.
We the people will resist tyranny. We will preserve the common good. We will protect our democracy.
The National Immigration Law Center, which joined the ACLU in fighting Trump's Muslim bans and other xenophobic policies during his first term, said it "knew Trump could win and that is why we helped lead a movement wide effort to plan for this moment."
"Trump and his allies told us what he plans to do: mass deportations, ending birthright citizenship, ending the right to public education for immigrant children, internment camps, and using the military to hunt down immigrants. We should take him at his word," said Kica Matos, president of the NILC. "One thing is certain: we cannot and will not retreat. For more than 40 years, NILC has been steadfast in our fight to defend the rights of low-income immigrants and their loved ones. We successfully fought Donald Trump before, and we will do it again."
Reich reminded his readers that Americans "supported one another during the Great Depression" and other national crises.
"We were victorious over Hitler's fascism and Soviet communism," he wrote. "We survived Joe McCarthy's witch-hunts, Richard Nixon's crimes, Lyndon Johnson's Vietnam war, the horrors of 9/11, and George W. Bush's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."
"We will resist Donald Trump's tyranny," he added. "Although peaceful and non-violent, the resistance will nonetheless be committed and determined. It will encompass every community in America. It will endure as long as necessary. We will never give up on America. The resistance starts now."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Elon Musk's Net Worth Surges by Over $16 Billion After Trump Win
Tesla's stock price jumped by as much as 15% following the former president's victory in the 2024 election.
Nov 06, 2024
Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election sent shares of Tesla surging as much as 15% Wednesday, propelled by CEO Elon Musk's prominent role in the Republican's White House campaign and expectations that the company will benefit from proposed tax cuts and a deregulatory blitz.
Trump name-checked Musk, the world's richest man, during his victory speech Wednesday morning, calling him a "super genius." Campaign finance records show that Musk—who's expected to receive a position in the president-elect's administration, despite massive conflicts of interest—pumped more than $100 million into the 2024 race in support of Trump's bid for a second term.
According to Forbes' real-time tracker, Musk's net worth—the bulk of which is tied up in Tesla stock—rose by over $16 billion on Wednesday.
Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, wrote in a note to clients Wednesday morning that while he believes a Trump presidency "would be an overall negative" for the electric vehicle industry given the Republican's pledge to assail the Inflation Reduction Act—a law that includes EV tax credits—"for Tesla we see this as a huge positive," estimating Trump's victory could help push Tesla's market share above $1 trillion.
Tesla was far from the only company whose stock price surged in the wake of Trump's win.
S&P 500, the Nasdaq, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each soared to new all-time highs Wednesday as the former president appeared on track to defeat Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in every swing state, securing a decisive Electoral College victory.
Wall Street behemoths Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase saw their shares jump by nearly 12% and 9% respectively, while the stock prices of oil companies such as Exxon Mobil also climbed, anticipating an aggressively pro-fossil fuel Trump administration.
Harold Hamm, billionaire founder of the oil and gas company Continental Resources, hailed Trump's victory over Harris as a "monumental win" for the fossil fuel sector—the primary driver of the global climate emergency.
The Financial Timesreported Wednesday morning that JPMorgan analysts expect shares of the biggest U.S. corporations "to rally over the coming weeks" in the aftermath of Trump's win.
"Trump's proposal to cut the corporate rate from 21% to 15% would prove particularly supportive for wireless carriers Verizon and AT&T, payment networks Visa and Mastercard, and media groups Fox and Warner Bros, analysts at America's biggest bank said in a note to clients on Wednesday," the newspaper observed.
An analysis released earlier this year estimated that Trump's proposal to slash the statutory corporate tax rate would deliver an annual tax cut of $48 billion to the 100 largest publicly traded U.S. companies—a sum bigger than the Education Department's K-12 budget.
During the campaign, Trump expressed support for eliminating the Department of Education entirely.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Global Fears for the Future as Fascist Donald Trump Wins Second Term
"The world is a more dangerous place this morning."
Nov 06, 2024
This is a developing news story... Check back for possible updates...
Donald Trump, a former president with openly authoritarian ambitions, defeated Democratic nominee Kamala Harris less than four years after sparking a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn his 2020 defeat.
Trump's 2024 victory over Harris, the U.S. vice president, was decisive: If current projections hold, Trump will sweep the seven battleground states of Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada. One outlet described the election results as "a stunning wipeout" for the Democratic Party.
In a speech in Florida, Trump said his win comes with an "unprecedented and powerful mandate"—a signal that he intends to try to follow through with his pledges to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, prosecute and deploy the military against his political opponents, gut rules constraining climate-polluting fossil fuel companies, and further slash taxes for the rich and large corporations.
"I will govern by a simple model," said Trump, whose campaign was bankrolled in part by the world's richest man. "Promises made, promises kept."
Trump's ability to implement a legislative program was bolstered by the Republican Party's capture of the U.S. Senate, with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) losing to luxury car dealer Bernie Moreno, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice easily picking up the seat left open by Sen. Joe Manchin's retirement, and Sen. Jon Tester falling to his GOP opponent in Montana.
Control of the U.S. House remains up for grabs as of this writing, according to The Associated Press, with more than 100 races yet to be called.
"Should Republicans take full control of Capitol Hill, there will be scant check on Trump's executive authority," notedFinancial Times columnist Edward Luce. "The U.S. Supreme Court already wrote Trump the equivalent of a judicial blank check when it ruled in July that he had sweeping immunity for his actions as president."
"America has turned a decisive corner," Luce added. "It would be foolhardy to suppose that Trump did not mean what he said when he vowed to come after his enemies. It would also be delusional to think that he will in any way feel constrained by his country's 50-50 split. Trump has a mandate to overhaul the U.S. in unimaginably disruptive ways. There will be no going back from the seismic outcome of America's 2024 election."
Fears about what a Trump victory could mean reached well beyond the confines of the United States, as Israel's far-right—including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—gleefully welcomed the imminent return to power of a billionaire whom leading historians have dubbed a fascist.
"Congratulations on history's greatest comeback!" wrote Netanyahu, who has spearheaded Israel's catastrophic assault on the Gaza Strip—a genocidal war that Trump backed during the 2024 campaign. "Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America."
The Peace & Justice Project, a United Kingdom-based advocacy organization, wrote Wednesday that "the world is a more dangerous place this morning."
"Trump's victory is a grave concern for the planet, marginalized communities, refugees, and Palestinians trying to survive Israel's genocide," the group continued. "We must organize globally and stand in solidarity with those targeted by the awful politics of fear and division—and build an alternative of hope and unity."
Sophie Bolt, general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, similarly warned that "the world will be far more dangerous with Trump's thumb on the nuclear button."
"The risks of nuclear flashpoints are already high—over Ukraine, across the Middle East, and in the Asia-Pacific," said Bolt. "This will only intensify under his presidency."
In a statement, Human Rights Watch said that a second Trump presidency "poses a grave threat to human rights in the United States and the world."
"Donald Trump has made no secret of his intent to violate the human rights of millions of people in the United States," said Tirana Hassan, HRW's executive director. "Independent institutions and civil society groups, including Human Rights Watch, will need to do all we can to hold him and his administration accountable for abuses."
Harris, who became the Democratic presidential nominee after Biden dropped out of the race in July, has yet to address the nation.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular