Why the Environmental Movement Needs USPS
Ashley Jankowski is currently the Sustainability Fellow at Yale University’s Office of Sustainability, as well as a freelance writer and reporter.
If you’ve paid any attention to politics or have spent time scrolling through Instagram this summer, you’ve likely heard way more about the United States Postal Service than you’re used to. Here’s a quick recap. In addition to spreading false claims about increased voting fraud through mail-in ballots, the Trump administration threatened to block stimulus funding and make suspicious operational changes to the USPS to address its surmounting debt. Some of these efforts included eliminating postal workers’ overtime pay, removing dozens of those iconic blue mailboxes from communities, and doing away with mail sorting machines, all of which would make mail sorting a slower process overall.
These efforts rightfully sparked fear that the ability of the institution to effectively manage a record number of mail-in ballots during the 2020 election would be compromised. Thankfully, following vicious outcry from citizens, civil rights groups, and Congress, the operational changes to the USPS have been put on hold until after the 2020 election. Still, the USPS is in financial trouble with over $160 billion in debt – and growing. The institution itself doesn’t receive any tax dollars, and pretty much relies on average Americans for support.
So why, exactly, should we care? Packaging waste, shipping emissions, and wasted paper associated with mail doesn’t quite align with tackling climate change at first glance. However, a truly just, inclusive, and sustainable society actually needs the USPS. Here’s why:
The USPS helps us vote.
According to the New York Times, at least 75 percent of American voters will be eligible to vote by mail in the 2020 election, and it’s the responsibility of post offices across the country ensure that around 80 million voices are heard on Election Day. In November, we’ll have the opportunity to elect a President with plans to advance comprehensive climate change policies and move the energy conversation away from coal, oil, and gas. This has never been more critical; In 2018, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that societies around the globe have only until 2030 to take ambitious and aggressive measures to reduce emissions to avoid extreme weather, sea level rise, and food shortages for hundreds of millions of people. In other words, the window for mitigating the most disastrous effects of climate change is swiftly closing.
Giving Americans the ability to vote for a pro-climate candidate in the 2020 election is one major benefit provided by the USPS to the environmental movement, but not the only one. It isn’t just about the candidate, it’s about voting itself.
Sure, mail-in voting is the only opportunity for many vulnerable individuals to put their words to action, particularly during a pandemic. But beyond the concerns of COVID-19, BIPOC individuals consistently face systemic discrimination in the placement of polling locations, in the execution of voting procedures and Voter ID laws, and even in the language used in in-person polls. As their communities are often disproportionately burdened with environmental toxins and deplete of environmental benefits, their votes on environmental and climate policy need to be counted. In fact, an inclusive environmental movement cannot be achieved without them. Accessible and equitable voting procedures – like mail-in voting - are essential in realizing a society where it is the nonnegotiable norm that all voices are given an equal opportunity to weigh in on the issues that affect their community and themselves.
The USPS helps us manage data that influences environmental decision making.
Every ten years, the USPS distributes and collects hundreds of millions of Census forms to and from citizens around the country. The Census accurately tracks the number and location of individuals living in the United States, which helps to properly distribute municipal and federal funds, informs academic and corporate research, guides city planning efforts, and redraws voting districts - all of which impacts local environmental decision making.
Let’s look at this more closely. Federal funding and the design of effective climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts often rely directly on census data. An accurate population count is essential not only in calculating municipal greenhouse gas emissions, but also for determining where the bulk of the emissions are coming from and therefore, where to prioritize decarbonization strategies. The data also informs the design of sustainable infrastructure such as public transportation networks, renewable energy infrastructure, or storm water management systems. A city planner looking to design new infrastructure, for example, will look to census data for an understanding of the size and makeup of the community. An undercount of individuals might result in insufficient funding, strategies, and stakeholder engagement.
An incomplete census collection can also unintentionally invite environmental hazards into a community. For example, census data is used in the risk assessments of corporations applying for permits to pollute an area. If the size and demographics of community are skewed, the environmental impacts of these decisions are likely to be underestimated and the permit may be more readily granted. This is also true in the wake of natural disasters; Census data informs FEMA disaster relief funding and other local emergency response efforts; an inadequate response will inevitably expose a greater number of individuals to resulting health and financial stressors.
In 2020, the USPS mailed out nearly 590 million census forms, which was the single largest First-Class mailing within a 90-day period in the institution’s history. This may be arguably the most widespread form of climate action available, and the U.S. Census Bureau relies on the USPS to make it happen. Let that sink in.
The USPS makes us more resilient in the face of climate change.
The USPS plays a critical, often overlooked role in the way that our cities prepare for and respond to emergencies like hurricanes, pandemics, and other crises.
For example, in preparation for a natural disaster, the USPS maps mail zones that might be affected by downed trees or flooding. With this information, the USPS coordinates with federal agencies to ensure that time-sensitive mail such as Social Security checks or absentee ballots arrive to citizens early in case their routes cannot be traveled. The USPS also communicates with local community members when a disaster is on the way to alert them if their important mail should be sent in advance.
As you might expect, during and following a bad storm, the USPS keeps mail dry and safe from weather hazards by picking up the mail of those who have evacuated and pausing or re-routing mail headed for devastated areas. Perhaps surprisingly, however, the USPS is actually a key actor in coordinating disaster relief efforts by facilitating communication between local residents and other federal agencies. For example, when TV and internet are down, FEMA can rely on the USPS to deliver critical, often life-saving informational flyers and emergency medical supplies to citizens. The USPS also has the Address Management System, a database of all addresses and residents in the US, which can help give an accurate account of everyone who is living in affected areas and provide them with relief funding and medication delivery. This also means that your local post office can help reunite displaced people with their families.
Natural disasters will only become stronger and more frequent in coming years, and we’ll need every resource available to us to establish any sort of resilience – the USPS included.
The USPS helps advance all facets of sustainable development.
Almost 500,000 people are employed by the USPS with career-level jobs, and the institution has historically helped immigrant and minority citizens acquire employment. In fact, today the employee makeup of the USPS is around 40 percent minority and 39 percent female. Economic justice is of utmost importance to an intersectional environmental movement, and by providing secure middle-class wages, benefits, and social mobility to Americans across the country, the USPS helps advance an inclusive vision of sustainability for all. Let’s also not forget that the USPS makes affordable shipping services available for small, often more sustainable businesses that could not stay afloat with higher private pricing.
Beyond the economic benefits, the USPS also provides an array of necessary social benefits. Federally mandated to deliver mail to every doorstep in America, the USPS delivers 48 percent of the world’s mail to 160 million homes – even to those in rural and low-income areas without access to internet. By doing so, USPS empowers every single American with the news and information to become informed about the issues that matter to them, and to stay connected with and to participate in their community. Information access, social cohesion, and fiscal, mental, and physical well-being for everyone: all elements of sustainability that we simply cannot do without.
In 2020, it is glaringly obvious that so many principles and systems that have historically defined the ‘American way’ need to be reevaluated - and in some cases, completely obliterated. So, order your stamps, contact your local representatives, and remember to thank your mailman for doing his part to support the environmental movement.
Ashley Jankowski is currently the Sustainability Fellow at Yale University’s Office of Sustainability, as well as a freelance writer and reporter.