View Public Input on TCI-P

I strongly support efforts to address the existential threat posed by greenhouse gases by an "all of the above" strategy. The stakes are too high for Virginians to be worried about 20% increases in the cost of a gallon of gasoline. To fail to take all possible steps to address climate change is to doom future generations to incurring much higher costs than a $0.50/gallon tax.

We support the TCI-P Rule giving more support to challenged and undeserved communities and to environmental safeguards.

I find the proposed structure of this proposal dubious and annoying.It seems to posit that through a complicated structure that pressures the sources of transportation carbon emission we will decrease carbon emissions while protecting lower income folks.Simultaneously its proponents,like Governor Baker, downplay any affect upon the actual price of gasoline and diesel fuel. If you want to do this,I suppose it's better than nothing,unless it's an ineffectual distraction. What is the goal,anyway?The goal is to copy Norway and S.Korea,which will outlaw the sale of gasmobiles in 2025. How is Norway doing this?It's quite simple.When one visits the car dealership in Norway one is presented with two versions of the same car,one electric,one gasoline.The electric one is cheaper to drive off the lot.(Not even considering cost of ownership,lack of repair,etc).So,it's not rocket science.By 2025 in Norway buying a gasmobile will be like now,in the US,buying a Blackberry instead of an I-phone.I suppose it's possible to buy a Blackberry,but why would you? My proposal to add to the TCI? Every day I drive on the Turnpike and see cars,at least as expensive as mine to buy,consuming gasoline.Are they quicker than my car?Likely not.Safer? Likely not,since my car is the safest.Are they more in a hurry and needing to drive 200plus miles without stopping to refuel.Likely not. So here is my proposal,which should not affect lower income folks.Anyone rich enough to buy a gasoline car,new,in 2021 for more than $35,000 should have to pay a yearly pollution tax of $1000 .We don't want pollution,right?(as opposed to employment,investment,etc).We are indirectly paying for all this pollution now.These polluters are increasing my risk of Alzheimer's disease and heart attack.If they want to pollute,let them pay for the privilege.
Use the fee collected to pay for ev rebates for lower income folks. Or for electric school buses. In 2022 raise the fee to $2000 yearly,2023 to $3000,etc. This only applies to cars selling for more than $35,000.That use gasoline.The alternative to paying such fees,for a car costing new $35,000,after rebate,doesn't take a Google search. This would not affect lower income folks,although ultimately,as is true now,low mileage used ev cars will become more available. What will happen to gasoline prices?Unclear.Fewer people will be driving gasomobiles,less demand? But if everyone drives an ev,who will care what gasoline is?Or will we care more to not put up with its stink?And tax its pollution accordingly?

As a resident if Virginia, such a tax would make our retired lives here very difficult. Our income is limited. I’m not sure how we could afford transportation to the supermarket, doctor appointments, volunteer opportunities, visits to our sons and grandchild who are an hour away, etc. We don’t live next to a main highway with mass transportation. The winters are too cold, the ice too slippery, no sidewalks, distances too far and we are too old to walk everywhere. We might have to move to a state that is more senior-friendly. I can’t even begin to imagine the hardship this will cause: gas or meds, gas or food, gas or internet, gas or life???

I call for the TCI-P Model Rule to include (1) a minimum investment amount to ensure overburdened and underserved communities in Virginia receive a greater-then-proportional share of investments from the program, (2) integration of air quality commitments across Virginia, and (3) robust empowerment of Virginia's Equity Advisory Body.

TCI is not a tax on gasoline and diesel. TCI is a more accurate accounting of the true cost of gasoline and diesel. It is an elimination of the free-ride subsidy gasoline and diesel have enjoyed for years. It’s time for us to stop pretending that using gasoline and diesel has no cost to society: it does.

The funds collected don’t just vanish, either. TCI directs them in a productive way to clean up the transportation system, which benefits us all, and will begin paying off immediately.

Gas prices will not skyrocket. Any increases the distributors pass on will be well below the normal fluctuations we all live with. Even setting the highest cap with 25% reduction will be almost unnoticeable at the pump. Distributors will continue to compete with each other on price. Let the free market rule!

Some say this will have a negligible effect on reducing emissions. This argument assumes a baseline that already has a huge uptake of EV’s, which we are no where close to yet. We should think of TCI as insurance against the mischief and backsliding supported by fossil fuel interests.

It’s time to start being responsible for our actions.

I am writing to you as a co-founder of Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions (FACS). Our organization started in a church basement in Oakton, Virginia seven years ago. Today, we have close to 3,000 supporters drawn from nearly 100 congregations, temples, and mosques throughout Northern Virginia. No matter our faith traditions, FACS activists believe that addressing climate change is an urgent moral responsibility.
We know that transportation is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas (GhG) pollution in Virginia and the region. Dangerous particulates that cause health problems like asthma flow from gasoline and diesel. Particulate pollution especially impacts those near major roads, which often include lower income and minority communities.
We need to move to a clean transportation system and a clean-energy economy.
FACS strongly supports a muscular TCI-P Model Rule that both ensures meaningful climate action to address Virginia's GhG pollution from the transportation sector, directs significant investments to correcting historic inequities in overburdened and underserved communities; and affords Virginia the opportunity for a cleaner, healthier transportation system.
TCI-P will greatly help Virginia and the region improve air quality, lower health care costs, reduce GhG pollution, and generate revenue for other environmental initiatives to further accelerate our progress.
For these reasons, we urge the adoption of a strong TCI-P Model Rule and urge you to act for the benefit of all generations.
Scott Peterson