Letter to Hon. Joseph Biden, President of the United States - Sen. Cramer, Colleagues Call On Biden to Embrace American-Made Liquid Fuels Over China-Dependent Electric Vehicles

Letter

Dear Mr. President:

We write today regarding your Administration's recent actions to subvert the U.S. Postal Service's (USPS) Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) program. After a lengthy and careful review of alternatives, the USPS came to a clear conclusion: a 100-percent electric vehicle (EV) commitment for the NGDV is impractical for at least 12,500 delivery routes across the U.S. This analysis also showed that an all-EV approach would increase the cost of the program for postal customers. Additionally, there are significant energy and environmental tradeoffs that favor the use of advanced internal combustion platforms when the full lifecycle analysis of the vehicle and its components are considered.

Your administration's policies, from federal procurement to infrastructure and tax proposals, have been overwhelmingly focused on a single technology mandate to reduce emissions from the transportation sector. This viewpoint excludes from consideration the overwhelming evidence of economic, environmental, and security benefits of liquid motor fuels produced across the United States. If we are to address the real-world dynamics of emissions and transportation in light of consumer demand and resource constraints, the federal government must embrace the current and next generation of liquid motor fuels.

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. 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. If your administration's goal is to impose an EV mandate regardless of cost, national security, or the functionality of the USPS, then it should level with U.S. ratepayers and seek congressional approval for such a policy.

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.

Sincerely,