TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

If the States in this Initiative are serious about our commitments to reduce our CO2 emissions, the TCI must include incentives or tax rebates for the oldest of all the Greens, geothermal. It has been around since the 1950's and very few people are even aware of it. I installed a geothermal heating system back in '08 and it's been paid for since 2018 with savings from zero gas deliveries over that time. New construction would be the easiest target for incentives, as the wells needed for the system could be drilled within the home's or business's building footprint. Retrofits are a bit harder(that is what I had to do), but they could be popular too with incentives to change from fossils. Please consider this important system type when finalizing this important Bill. Thank-you.
Sincerely,
Kevin Downey

I support the regional transportation and climate initiative because only by working together with neighboring states can we make progress toward expanding rail service and pulling back on highway expansion.

Just as all of the Petroleum Industry, the Alternative Energy Industries should stand on their own.
To collect money from gasoline and diesel purchases to fund alternative energy projects is taxation without representation.
So I call on our members to dump your windmills and solar panels into the bay.

The transportation sector produces just over 41% of greenhouse gas emissions in Maryland. Modeled on the successful system for reducing GHG emissions from power plants, this initiative to cap and reduce emissions from transportation fuel combustion is one part of a necessary plan to keep GHG emissions at a livable level. I read many of the comments already submitted and find strong support in heavily populated states such as Maryland, New Jersey, others, but opposition in Maine, where people now must rely on private cars in the absence of transit alternatives. This is where incentives should increase public electric transport and purchase of electric vehicles. Folks, we have a climate crisis here we simply must address. This initiative can be a big part of the solution. Thank you for the proposal.

TCI Comments 2.28.20
I believe that we are not doing enough to address climate change. Whether TCI will accomplish the intended results is very uncertain. For example, expecting electric vehicles to significantly reduce climate change gases [cgc] is not certain, since it depends on the energy source of the electric recharge, which is dependent on the time of the 24-hr day cycle. The most efficient recharge would come directly [I.e., direct current] from a solar panel. However, for various bureaucratic reasons this cannot be done.
Uncertainty is also caused by the fact that major fracking is occurring across the US, except the east coast itself and New England. This fracking is producing significant cgs, which are carried eastward, and northerly, by the predominant air flows. TCI will do nothing to address this problem from fracking, as well as the other problems from fracking.
Needed is a comprehensive model of how to address not only climate change but also create sustainability. This model has to demonstrate how the collective “we” can move society in a short period of time from a consumptive society to a sustainable one, with low carbon waste gases. It will address social and environmental justice, by moving each of us higher on the Maslow model, resulting in a culture that has a higher quality of life for all.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback. Comments are included in the attached document.

Strongly support this initiative. As the owner of two fully electric cars, I am trying to make a difference and this initiative is good.

I am writing to express strong support for the Transportation and Climate Initiative and to urge the adoption of the strongest possible cap on transportation carbon emissions. The climate crisis demands that we take swift, strong action to decarbonize our economy, and with transportation now the number one source of greenhouse gases in the region and around the United States, we need to begin now. I further urge the adoption of a cap with the utmost of integrity. Cost-containment measures should not result in an increase in the overall emissions cap and the use of offsets should be strictly limited to ensure that the program achieves its main mission of promoting cleaner transportation in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Finally, allowance revenue generated under TCI should be reinvested so as to accelerate the transition to a cleaner transportation system. States should not be permitted to use allowance revenues to fill gaps in road spending or to facilitate highway construction.

With sea level rise, increases in extreme precipitation and other impacts of climate change already beginning to appear in our region, we have the opportunity to lead and provide other regions with a shining example of leadership. By adopting a strong regional cap with integrity, and investing revenue from the program into clean transportation services and technologies, the TCI states can demonstrate to the rest of the country and the rest of the world that decarbonizing the transportation sector is possible.

I strongly support efforts to rapidly, steeply cap fossil fuel emissions and invest in low- and no-carbon and methane transportation infrastructure in the region. We need to make a massive transition rapidly to a region that is more walkable; is more accessible to and safer for bikes; has accessible, affordable (even no-cost at the point of service) public transportation such as rail; and subsidizes and provides infrastructure (Eg, charging stations) for electric cars, so long as the grid they plug into does not itself use fossil fuels.