Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley opposes the Biden administration?s push to transition the entire federal fleet to electric vehicles.
In a recent letter to the president, Grassley and several of his Senate colleagues urged Biden to continue utilizing liquid fuel vehicles in the federal fleet, including automobiles used by the U.S. Postal Service.
?The postal service is an independent operation that?s not even funded by taxpayer money,? said Grassley. ?We have White House officials and the EPA pressuring the U.S. Postal Service to completely switch to an all-electric fleet. This was after we had a postal service review that found an all-electric vehicle approach would not work for our 12,500 delivery routes all across our country. Thank God the postal service did not cave. However, other federal agencies don?t enjoy the same independence from the whims of the president as the postal service does.?
Grassley and his colleagues also warn the administration against making a unilateral decision on EVs by ignoring costs and national security concerns.
?Besides the high cost of electric vehicles, the supply chain used to produce them is largely dominated by China. You know, China is such a great and friendly nation, isn?t it? President Biden and his allies in Congress should re-think a one-size fits all electric vehicle mandate. Instead, they should support an all of the above approach that takes advantage of biofuels.?
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.).
Grassley made his comments during his weekly press call with farm reporters Tuesday morning.