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For Immediate Release
November, 18 2021, 10:10am EDT
Contact:
Morgan Folger, Destination: Zero Carbon Campaign Director, mfolger@environmentamerica.org
Josh Chetwynd, Deputy Director, Media Relations, josh.chetwynd@
Electrify UPS: New Campaign Calls on Global Shipping Company to Transition to Electric Delivery Trucks
Environment America Research & Policy Center calls on UPS to reimagine its fleet with clean energy.
WASHINGTON
Environment America Research & Policy Center launched a new campaign Thursday calling on the United Parcel Service (UPS) to purchase all electric vehicles for their delivery fleet of 125,000 vehicles by 2030.
"Delivering packages to our doorsteps shouldn't come with the unhealthy add-on of air pollution and a warmer climate," said Wendy Wendlandt, president of Environment America Research & Policy Center. "As the world's largest courier, UPS has a responsibility and opportunity to lead the shipping industry to an electric future with zero-emission trucks."
Transportation, including the iconic brown UPS trucks, is the leading source of global warming pollution in the United States. Shipping companies like UPS operate fleets of largely diesel-powered trucks that drive in our neighborhoods and near our homes every day. The delivery trucks and tractor trailers that deliver consumer goods are also responsible for nearly half of smog-causing nitrogen oxide emissions and nearly 60% of the fine particulate matter from all vehicles.
UPS has committed to having carbon neutral operations by 2050, but is still focusing on expanding its number of vehicles fueled by gas primarily made of methane in its fleet. Methane brings with it a heap of environmental and health problems including the fact that methane emissions are speeding up global warming.
The company delivers on average nearly 25 million packages and documents every day with a fleet of 125,000 vehicles. As of 2020 UPS has only committed to ordering 10,000 electric vehicles, but competitors FedEx and Amazon have gone further than UPS to reduce their carbon footprints.
"By committing to all-electric trucks, UPS can help deliver a stable climate to future generations," said Morgan Folger, Environment America Research & Policy Center's Destination: Zero Carbon campaign director. "The urgency of climate change requires a transition to a zero-emission fleet as quickly as UPS can deliver packages."
As a part of this campaign, Environment America Research & Policy and its state affiliates in more than two dozen states across the country will engage UPS customers to encourage the company to commit to all electric trucks. A survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication found that 70% of Americans think corporations should do more to address global warming.
"UPS describes itself as 'Customer First, People Led, Innovation Driven' and strives to 'deliver what matters,'" Folger said. "All-electric trucks are the innovative solution to get customers what they need without polluting our air. UPS can help bring the whole shipping industry along and lead the way to an electric future."
With Environment America, you protect the places that all of us love and promote core environmental values, such as clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and clean energy to power our lives. We're a national network of 29 state environmental groups with members and supporters in every state. Together, we focus on timely, targeted action that wins tangible improvements in the quality of our environment and our lives.
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Defying Trump, Venezuela VP Says 'We Will Never Again Be a Colony of Any Empire'
“What is being done to Venezuela is barbaric," said Delcy Rodríguez, who assumed the role of interim president following the US abduction of Nicolás Maduro.
Jan 04, 2026
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who assumed the role of interim president following the US abduction of Nicolás Maduro, said in a televised address Saturday that "we will never again be a colony of any empire," defying the Trump administration's plan to indefinitely control Venezuela's government and exploit its vast oil reserves.
“We are determined to be free,” declared Rodríguez, who demanded that the US release Maduro from custody and said he is still Venezuela's president.
“What is being done to Venezuela is barbaric," she added.
Rodríguez's defiant remarks came after US President Donald Trump claimed he is "designating various people" to run Venezuela's government, suggested American troops could be deployed, and threatened a "second wave" of attacks on the country if its political officials don't bow to the Trump administration's demands.
Trump also threatened "all political and military figures in Venezuela," warning that "what happened to Maduro can happen to them." Maduro is currently detained in Brooklyn and facing fresh US charges.
Rodríguez's public remarks contradicted the US president's claim that she privately pledged compliance with the Trump administration's attempts to control Venezuela's political system and oil infrastructure. The interim president delivered her remarks alongside top Venezuelan officials, including legislative and judicial leaders, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, a projection of unity in the face of US aggression.
"Doesn’t feel like a nation that is ready to let Donald Trump and Marco Rubio 'run it,'" said US Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who condemned the Trump administration for "starting an illegal war with Venezuela that Americans didn’t ask for and has nothing to do with our security."
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After Venezuela Assault, Trump and Rubio Warn Cuba, Mexico, and Colombia Could Be Next
"The 'Trump corollary' to the Monroe Doctrine—applied in recent hours with violent force over the skies of Caracas—is the single greatest threat to peace and prosperity that the Americas confront today," said Progressive International.
Jan 03, 2026
US President Donald Trump and top administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, characterized Saturday's assault on Venezuela and abduction of the country's president as a warning shot in the direction of Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, and other Latin American nations.
During a Saturday press conference, Trump openly invoked the Monroe Doctrine—an assertion of US dominance of the Western Hemisphere—and said his campaign of aggression against Venezuela represented the "Donroe Doctrine" in action.
In his unwieldy remarks, Trump called out Colombian President Gustavo Petro by name, accusing him without evidence of "making cocaine and sending it to the United States."
"So he does have to watch his ass," the US president said of Petro, who condemned the Trump administration's Saturday attack on Venezuela as "aggression against the sovereignty of Venezuela and Latin America."
Petro responded defiantly to the possibility of the US targeting him, writing on social media that he is "not worried at all."
In a Fox News appearance earlier Saturday, Trump also took aim at the United States' southern neighbor, declaring ominously that "something's going to have to be done with Mexico," which also denounced the attack on Venezuela and abduction of President Nicolás Maduro.
"She is very frightened of the cartels," Trump said of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. "So we have to do something."
"This armed attack on Venezuela is not an isolated event. It is the next step in the United States' campaign of regime change that stretches from Caracas to Havana."
Rubio, for his part, focused on Cuba—a country whose government he has long sought to topple.
"If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I'd be concerned, at least a little bit," Rubio, who was born in Miami to Cuban immigrant parents, said during Saturday's press conference.
That the Trump administration wasted no time threatening other nations as it pledged to control Venezuela indefinitely sparked grave warnings, with the leadership of Progressive International cautioning that "this armed attack on Venezuela is not an isolated event."
"It is the next step in the United States' campaign of regime change that stretches from Caracas to Havana—and an attack on the very principle of sovereign equality and the prospects for the Zone of Peace once established by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States," the coalition said in a statement. "This renewed declaration of impunity from Washington is a threat to all nations around the world."
"Trump has clearly articulated the imperial logic of this intervention—to seize control over Venezuela's natural resources and reassert US domination over the hemisphere," said Progressive International. "The 'Trump corollary' to the Monroe Doctrine—applied in recent hours with violent force over the skies of Caracas—is the single greatest threat to peace and prosperity that the Americas confront today."
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'The Actions of a Rogue State': US Lawmakers Demand Emergency Vote to Stop Trump War on Venezuela
"Trump has no right to take us to war with Venezuela. This is reckless and illegal," said Rep. Greg Casar. "Congress should vote immediately on a War Powers Resolution to stop him."
Jan 03, 2026
Members of the US Congress on Saturday demanded emergency legislative action to prevent the Trump administration from taking further military action in Venezuela after the president threatened a "second wave" of attacks and said the US will control the South American country's government indefinitely.
Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), said that "Congress should vote immediately on a War Powers Resolution to stop" President Donald Trump, whose administration has for months unlawfully bombed boats in international waters and threatened a direct military assault on Venezuela without lawmakers' approval.
"Trump has no right to take us to war with Venezuela. This is reckless and illegal," said Casar. "My entire life, politicians have been sending other people’s kids to die in reckless regime change wars. Enough. No new wars."
Another prominent CPC member, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), said in response to the bombing of Venezuela and capture of its president that "these are the actions of a rogue state."
"Trump’s illegal and unprovoked bombing of Venezuela and kidnapping of its president are grave violations of international law and the US Constitution," Tlaib wrote on social media. "The American people do not want another regime change war abroad."
Progressives weren't alone in criticizing the administration's unauthorized military action in Venezuela. Establishment Democrats, including Sen. Adam Schiff of California and others, also called for urgent congressional action in the face of Trump's latest unlawful bombing campaign.
"Without congressional approval or the buy-in of the public, Trump risks plunging a hemisphere into chaos and has broken his promise to end wars instead of starting them," Schiff said in a statement. "Congress must bring up a new War Powers Resolution and reassert its power to authorize force or to refuse to do so. We must speak for the American people who profoundly reject being dragged into new wars."
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said he will force a Senate vote next week on a bipartisan War Powers Resolution to block additional US military action in Venezuela.
"Where will this go next?" Kaine asked in a statement. "Will the president deploy our troops to protect Iranian protesters? To enforce the fragile ceasefire in Gaza? To battle terrorists in Nigeria? To seize Greenland or the Panama Canal? To suppress Americans peacefully assembling to protest his policies? Trump has threatened to do all this and more and sees no need to seek legal authorization from people’s elected legislature before putting servicemembers at risk."
“It is long past time for Congress to reassert its critical constitutional role in matters of war, peace, diplomacy, and trade," Kaine added. "My bipartisan resolution stipulating that we should not be at war with Venezuela absent a clear congressional authorization will come up for a vote next week."
The lawmakers' push for legislative action came as Trump clearly indicated that his administration isn't done intervening in Venezuela's internal politics—and plans to exploit the country's vast oil reserves.
During a press conference on Saturday, Trump said that the US "is going to run" Venezuela, signaling the possibility of a troop deployment.
"We're not afraid of boots on the ground," the president said in response to a reporter's question, adding vaguely that his administration is "designating various people" to run the government.
Whether the GOP-controlled Congress acts to constrain the Trump administration will depend on support from Republicans, who have largely applauded the US attack on Venezuela and capture of Maduro. In separate statements, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) described the operation as "decisive" and justified.
Ahead of Saturday's assault, the Republican-controlled Congress rejected War Powers Resolutions aimed at preventing Trump from launching a war on Venezuela without lawmakers' approval.
One Republican lawmaker who had raised constitutional concerns about Saturday's actions, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, appeared to drop them after a phone call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
But Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) noted in a statement that both Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth "looked every senator in the eye a few weeks ago and said this wasn’t about regime change."
"I didn’t trust them then, and we see now that they blatantly lied to Congress," said Kim. "Trump rejected our constitutionally required approval process for armed conflict because the administration knows the American people overwhelmingly reject risks pulling our nation into another war."
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