TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

As a grandfather of three young granddaughters, I am very concerned about how man-made global warming will negatively effect the lives of all children. Pollution caused by transportation is our largest source of global warming emissions both regionally and nationally and therefore it is absolutely imperative that my home state of New Hampshire join the plan to reduce these emissions. My wife drives a hybrid vehicle and I will be ordering a Tesla, all electric, model Y this year because we believe that this is a responsibility that we all must share. The policy put in force to address these issues must have a strong component of equity by prioritizing clean investments in areas overburdened by pollution and/or for those who don't have access. I am extremely grateful for the bipartisan nature of this project, moving us forward, while the federal government seems to be taking us backward.

I am a small business owner and operate a delivery business in the waterville area. the tci policy as it is now is the worst plan to reduce emmissions which from what i read is the "intent" of the tci proposal. taxing fuel further will increase operating costs for all transportation services by increasing their anual fuel costs by approximately 7.5% seems like a small ammount for a good cause until you look at it further take my small business to start in a year i will purchase just over 850 gallons of gasoline this is running a 30 mpg vehicle at optimal fuel consumption. which equates to just $144.50 more in fuel costs. i have still maintained the same carbon emissions the same can be said for oter companies as well lets look at a trucking and freight company, an 18 wheeler gets roughly 5.3 mpg runs 3,000 miles per week and annually will consume 29,434 gallons of fuel. which means every operating 18 wheeler will be taxed an additional $5,003.78 and has not altered its carbon emissions not to mention the operating cost which will be passed along to the consumer. now i would say it makes more since to adopt something like the california emissions laws. it would be better to impose a fee for failing an emissions test rather than paying more for doing your job and paying another tax for fuel. these fees can fund projects on atmospheric carbon scrubbing projects which will clean the already poluted air and at the same time will do more than encourage drivers to lower emissions, new cars sold will already meet or exceede these emissions requirements and older vehicles can either be brought up to code at the owners expense or end up with fines for failing the emissions test. trucking companies, cab companies, public transport, mail couriers and so many others will be forced to do 3 things! 1 look into overhauling its logistics to deliver more efficiently 2 bring all operating vehicles up to code for emissions and 3 pay for not meeting emissions testing. and these emissions tests and fines can be anual with vehicle inspections and a part of d.o.t highway checks imposing a fee for every mile driven after the initial fine is issued until an emissions test is passed will also encourage these high emission vehicles to be parked and cease operation until they meet code. bottom line taxing the fuel needed to run your business or to commute to work or deliver essential goods across the united states is a terrible idea! i understand a road tax it pays for infrastructure repairs and upkeep and new roadways bridges etc. but saying no matter how low your emissions are you get to pay the same ammount as everyone else is crazy! we have all seen diesel pickup trucks take off from a stop and "rolling coal" because its fun, how is it fair they pay $0.17 while im sitting here in a ford focus. another outcome could be the forced purchase of ev's which simply changes the source of this pollution and new england does not have an effective infrastructure for ev charging or even repair. please reconsider the proposal and target offenders with fees rather than all purchases of road fuel, and use these fees to fund existing atmosphere pollution elimination projects. thank you!

Taxpayers voted NO on gas tax and now we are going to be taxed on gas??? What happened to the legislative process? My vote is no gas tax. There are plenty of ways to save $ in this state, like removing officials' commuting fuel reimbursement. That would save millions. The average person pays for their own gas. Lawmakers should too.

Maine should grasp the opportunity to realize significant economic, health, and environmental benefits by transitioning to cleaner and more efficient transportation options through adoption of TCI.

Maine is so unlike the rest of these regional States in size, population, economics, alternative transportation options, commerce and carbon footprint! Here’s another Bad Deal for Mainers!!

Stop raising every tax you can when our Social Security checks are only going up by $4-5!
Make the welfare people earn their way. Janet Mills you were going to do so much good......when are young going to start?

I am a mother, an educator, an energy activist in my community of Greenfield, MA. What an important step it is to get the Governors of our East Coast states to work together to change our transportation habits. It will take a very concerted effort. Among other things, encouraging more dense development with fewer outlying housing complexes is essential. In the case of Western Massachusetts, our terrain is very rural and public transportation systems are not adequate. We are a forgotten segment in transportation planning for our state. We cannot continue to rely on buses that use fossil fuel, and we do not have the infrastructure or the funds to change to electric vehicles at this time. Thank you for focusing on remedies that get people out of individual cars and onto buses, trains, subways. Every day our vehicles are creating more and more health issues down the road.
Yours,
Carol Letson, citizen of Greenfield, MA, and a member of Greening Greenfield, a citizen organization working to reduce energy use in our city.