U.S. Postmaster DeJoy Loves Big Oil, Postmaster DeJoy Gets Schooled, Ubuntu Climate Change Heroes!

UBUNTU CLIMATE CHANGE HEROES

Ubuntu Climate Change Heroes is an audiovisual site-specific installation using poetry, music, and film introducing the idea of local climate change heroes. Created by artist and TED Fellow Lee Mokobe, the installation focuses on recyclers going through dumping sites, as well as on indigenous healers who have educated communities about water preservation and land conservation – both groups contributing to the climate change conversation in a major way.

The work’s goal is to spark solution-based conversations around overconsumption, overproduction, environmental consciousness, and nature conservation.

“My main aim is to show that ordinary citizens can become part of the solution to help slow down climate change through reducing greenhouse gas emissions and conserving nature. Through this work, and these incredible stories, I hope to inspire and make the fight to slow down climate change accessible.”

— Lee Mokobe

Lee Mokobe is an award-winning slam poet, content creator and creative director. They are the founder of Vocal Revolutionaries, a non-profit organization focused on empowering creative African youth using digital art.

Lee is also an LGBTQ activist specifically referencing their experience as a Black transgender immigrant in South Africa and America. Check out the link to this hauntingly beautiful video in the Deeper Dive section of this story at theclimate.org/episodes.

DEEPER DIVE: Vimeo, Lee Ted Talk, Lee Mokobe

U.S. POSTMASTER DEJOY LOVES BIG OIL

Back in February, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy defended the Postal Service’s plan to replace the vast majority of its aging vehicle fleet with gas-powered trucks — rather than electric vehicles — saying on Tuesday that USPS needs to balance its commitment to an electric fleet with “our dire financial condition.”

Under the current USPS plan, overseen by the Trump-era DeJoy, only 10% of its next generation delivery vehicles, or NGDVs, will be electric, with the other 90% being gas-powered trucks. The Auto Workers and the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, criticized the state’s Republican senator, Ron Johnson, for supporting DeJoy’s gas guzzlers.

BlueGreen Alliance Policy Adviser Reem Rayef said, “We need even more electric delivery vehicles. And we need them built by workers with good union jobs, reflecting” Biden’s “commitment to making federal investments that support workers and communities.”

In a lawsuit, the UAW and the Natural Resources Defense Council said DeJoy didn’t follow the law and hold public hearings on his vehicle deal and that his minions crafted an inadequate environmental impact statement to justify a decision he had already made.

Why does this matter to us? Rev Yearwood, President & CEO of Hip Hop Caucus, spoke at a recent #CleanerTrucks rally to demand that the United States Postal Service contract require at least 75% electric trucks. He said transitioning the USPS fleet from gas-guzzling to clean energy is a critical step in addressing the impacts the climate crisis is having on Black and Brown communities.

“We believe electric vehicles are going to be the wave of the future,” Michael Foster, motor vehicle services director for the Postal Workers, told National Public Radio after learning of the states’ suit. “The question is how soon will the Postal Service come into the future?”

Thanks to public pressure put on by groups like HipHop Caucus and EarthJustice, the USPS said it now has a supplemental environmental impact statement on the deal, and a public hearing, too.

DEEPER DIVE: CNN.com, HipHop Caucus, EarthJustice, Grist, USPS

POSTMASTER DEJOY GETS SCHOOLED

So what do we do when we find out people are out of touch? We incite a petition! 

After spending months lying to the public about its misguided plan to replace its fleet with 90% polluting trucks, the United States Postal Service just announced its intent to conduct a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS). The SEIS is an opportunity for the Postal Service to redo its flawed analysis, and it comes after more than 75,000 Earthjustice supporters told the Postal Service that its first round of analysis was insufficient.

So, EarthJustice, Hip Hop Caucus, Grist, the Climate Reality Project and others are asking us to join them in filing a public comment urging the Postal Service to go 100% electric, by signing an online petition.

The consequences of the status quo are too significant to ignore. Transportation is the largest source of climate pollution in the U.S. and air pollution from fossil fuel vehicles harms people’s health, especially in low-income communities and communities of color where government policies have deliberately concentrated transportation pollution. By upgrading to electric vehicles, the Postal Service can cut dangerous air pollution across the country and help put us on a path to an all-electric, zero-emissions transportation future.

Why does converting the USPS fleet to 100% electric matter to us?  The USPS is the largest civilian fleet in the world. The scope of this is massive and will undeniably have a lasting impact on our environment.  

Click on the links in the Deeper Dive section of this story at theclimate.org/episodes to sign the online petition.

DEEPER DIVE: Online Petition