TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

Climate initiative needs to be handled from all kinds of different angles. An important one is the ability to bring back sidewalks in neighborhoods and bike paths in towns and cities. Children living close to their school should be able to walk or bike safely to their schools, less school buses. Yes in wintertime it is difficult but somehow for many decades we were able to get our kids to school without school buses.

Education of the public to combine errands.

We should not add a tax to gas because it is regressive and hurts low income people the most

Our outdated transportation system is Maine’s largest source of climate pollution—and it doesn’t even meet the needs of Maine people.
I support every effort to reduce transportation pollution and if it is based on a proven model such as RGGI all the better.
Maine people deserve clean, modern, affordable transportation options that deliver economic, health, and climate benefits to local communities. Cities should have electric public transportation fleets. There should be clean-fuel public transportation between our cities, with logical stops along the way, and perhaps e-bikes for rent at the hubs so visitors can get to their final destination still using clean fuel.
It makes sense for Maine to work with neighboring states through TCI’s bipartisan, proven policy model.
Applying a “cap and invest” approach to transportation would help Maine redirect some of the $5 billion a year we send out of state to fossil fuel companies into our local communities and sustainable transportation solutions. Wow, think what other public problems we could solve if we had $5 billion a year to work with!

Our company has been in business for over 73 years and is a supplier of both propane and petroleum products. We support efforts for a cleaner environment but it must be with a balanced approach to be both effective and affordable. Electricity is not the answer to it all. As you know, there have been great strides in both gasoline and diesel technologies. Propane is a clean fuel, is readily available in the United States, and can effectively and economically provide energy today in a number of key areas.

It's imperative that America's states and nation need to begin the development of far more environmentally responsible transportation alternatives. America is clearly falling far behind many other similar industrialized nations in the world in this respect; that's especially true for long-haul mass transit. America's high-speed rail system is archaic compared to that of most countries in Europe and Asia. Americans should not be flying between cities that are 1,000 miles or so distant from each other. Given all the delays associated with flying, high speed rail would likely get New Yorkers to Chicago sooner by rail than flying and potentially at much less cost and environmental impact. And like Europe, America should be creating cities that are essentially traffic free. And all this should be accomplished utilizing non fossil fuel burning vehicles as any efforts at improving our nation is doomed in the long term if something isn't done soon to reverse the impacts of global warming. And with respect to Global Warming, I question whether scientists are considering the fact that by humans simply wrapping the world in black asphalt roads and parking lots which hold and retain heat since the early 1900s; along with having built tens of thousands of cities with large buildings which also retain heat; all of which has made it harder for earth to return to the latent overnight temperatures of pre industria- age values, isn't also contributing to global warming; and that something needs to be done soon to reduce the heat retaining effects of our roads, bridges, large buildings and other structures whose retained heat has served to gradually increase earth's daytime temperatures because the latent temperatures in the morning have gradually in and of themselves been rising. It just seems common sense that if we started with an essentially prestine world almost devoid of large buildings and roads at the end of the 1800s and since then have added millions of heat retaining structures (roads, bridges, buildings, etc) not to mention heat spewing factories, large ocean liners, etc., that just these structures and other heat retaining/spewing objects that their presence alone would gradually cause the atmosphere's latent temperature to rise over time - forgetting all about the increasing concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere.

As a Maine resident, I am worried about the threats to our state and citizens from climate change such as sea level rise and air pollution. Our transportation system is old, dirty and inefficient, and it is the largest source of climate emissions and health-damaging localized air pollution in Maine. Moreover, the money that Mainers spend on oil and gas ($5 billion) goes to the fossil fuel corporations outside of the state, not benefitting our economy.
I applaud Gov. Mills's participation in the Transportation and Climate Initiative regional design process. I am delighted that this is a bipartisan effort and hope that the latest scientific advances are included in the planning. Rural Maine does not have much in the way of public transportation, so most rely on driving themselves or asking for transport help from friends, thereby adding to the amount of vehicular pollution and wear and tear on the roads. More public transportation options such as electric buses or trollies, safer and more options for cyclists and walkers, incentives for the purchase and charging of electric vehicles - all of these would be healthy and equitable improvements for our citizens, while retaining monies for our state economy. An increased use of internet access to enable patients to attend appointments remotely would help, too. We certainly do not want to hurt the low income folks in our state in the process of trying to fight climate change; they are suffering enough already.

Our outdated transportation system is Maine’s largest source of climate pollution—and it doesn’t even meet the needs of Maine people.Maine people deserve clean, modern, affordable transportation options that deliver economic, health, and climate benefits to local communities.It makes sense for Maine to work with neighboring states through TCI’s bipartisan, proven policy model.