TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

Maine people can not afford to pay higher costs for our heating and transportation.DO NOT sign the memorandum of understanding and commit us to this initiative.

Living in rural ME, needing a vehicle, increased gas prices would impede travel to doctors appointment in further communities and cause an already stretched budget to created more problems . Also, my husband still works full time as a carpenter and travels up to 60 miles for work in other communities. He has to have a full size truck to carry all his tools. I understand that Governor Mills wants and pledged to reduce the carbon footprint in ME but I don’t think these efforts will help if others surrounding us or the federal government doesn’t fund or try to do it too. I feel that attacking her constituents directly is not good and attacking big business who can afford it should be targeted. It’s hard enough to live in ME and she will be forcing more residents to look for other places to live if more taxes and increases are imposed on us.

This cannot be allowed to happen in Maine.
This would devastate the poor and elderly in their ability to heat their homes!

Stop... Educate yourselves before crippling our State with your willy nilli ideas. We can not have blide Leadership. Ignorance is not Bliss it is however, extremely expensive when wielded blindly!!! Janet Mills ideas and policy spell disaster for Maine.

A low carbon transportation policy needs specific parameters to not worsen pollution in EJ communities. They could add an explicit mention of altering transportation plans to meet the needs of the communities they are located in, not just accepting comments and input but a review process with members of the community. We've learned from cap-and-trade policies (i.e. California) that areas that can't afford to upgrade and pollute less buy the permits and tend to be located in EJ communities. Explicit mentions of emissions reductions plans in toxic hot spots to make up for this outcome would be helpful.

The feedback from communities has been that groups and representatives of the communities must be at the table at each step of the policy development process in order for the process to be democratic and suit the people's needs. Take this suggestion seriously, so much of the feedback is that people want more direct participation in the policies that affect them and their environment.

Dear Sir or Ma'am: I am writing to you today to voice my opposition to the Transportation Climate Initiative. My sole income is a small pension. Any kind of direct tax or back door tax to fund this initiative will cause me to incurre an additional financial burden on me. Not every Mainer is a multi-Billionaire or multi-Millionaire that can afford this tax. Additionally, Mainers on Social Security or other fixed income cannot also afford paying this hidden tax. We Mainers are being fleeced by all the taxes up-front, or hidden taxes, and are being taxed to death. How are we suppose to survive when we also have other daily expenses. You people are living in a fantasy world, or are extremely wealthy, and have no clue what it is like just to survive day to day on a small income. Worst yet, no income at all. What are we suppose to do? Think about how most Mainers have to live before you mandate another tax or hidden financial burden upon most of us. Please cancel this Utopian initiative from being in acted. What good is saving the planet from so called Climate Change when the rest of us cannot afford to live. Killing the patient but curing the illness is not the answer. Stop taxing us into oblivion!

This will just make poor people poorer. It will make life more difficult for everyone, especially for children who live in poor households.

Please do not do this. The people in maine barely can pay for the gas to get to work as it is. Placing a hidden tax on our drivers is one of the worst decisions you could make.

This makes no sense for the people of Maine! It will be an oppressive burden on all the citizens that depend on reasonable prices on goods and the ability to heat their homes They also need be able to get to a job or store. For many of us this will be the breaking point to force us from our homes and seek a new state to live in. We the citizens of Maine can't afford anymore added taxation and be able to survive here!