TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

Electric vehicles, both private cars and public transport, will keep our air cleaner, and save money on fuel if the electricity for them is generated by solar and/or wind. The benefits outweigh any drawbacks and will pay for itself over time in fuel savings.

Dear Governor Mills. Please do not do this. Maine is already one of the highest taxed states in the nation. We, the hard working people can not afford more taxation. Trucks move Maine. When tou raise the cost of doing business it causes the cost of all goods and services to rise. This in turn hurts the poorest of poor most. In addition Maine is already one of the cleanest states in the nation. Stop this foolish political posturing and do the right thing. Don't drive more Mainers over the New Hampshire border. Thank you for your consideration.

Climate change is the most critical problem facing the planet. All forms of transportation contribute to the problem. We must coalesce around solutions NOW.

I support TCI because it addresses both climate change as well as transportation infrastructure needs.

Our region needs improvement on both these fronts immediately. Many of us who are concerned about climate change will be carefully following what the response is from each our region's leaders to implementing the TCI plan. This plan has been carefully crafted and vetted over time and deserves support from any prominent regional leader who has similar concerns about climate change as well as transportation infrastructure improvment.

Following the release on October 1 of the Framework for a Draft Regional Policy Proposal, and ahead of the release of a multi-state draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) to advance the policy design process, our coalition of vehicle manufacturers, fuel providers, and industry groups wishes to express our support for the development and implementation of a coordinated regional cap-and-invest program to hasten an equitable transition toward a cleaner transportation economy and healthier communities throughout the region. Please find our full comments on the Framework attached.

Our transportation system is stuck in the dark ages. Traffic congestion from millions of cars and trucks are polluting our lungs and planet more than ever before. But as we enter this new decade, we have an opportunity modernize how we get from point A to point B.

We need to move quickly to address transportation emissions & shift to a cleaner transportation model if we are to have a prayer of averting the most catastrophic effects of the climate crisis. We need clean, high speed rail services to be expanded & we need ready access to charging stations for electric vehicles, support for cleaner alternative fuels & support for those among us who simply cannot afford hybrids or plug-in vehicles. Pennsylvania needs to join this effort & work aggressively toward our goal of a cleaner transportation grid.

Pricing gimmicks and other "market" schemes are lame and not serious. They merely appease oligarchs--who, by the way, have extensive emergency plans to "escape" the ravages of the climate disruption (CD) they've foisted upon us by ignoring CD science and funding lying propaganda denying the existence of CD. All this to concentrate wealth into their greedy, sociopathic hands. We need moral leadership in government who will listen to the demands and solutions of the Poor Peoples Campaign to fight ecocide, racism, warmongering, poverty, and christian nationalism. This governmental leadership not only must pass meaningful legislation that embodies those solutions, but must enforce those laws and interpret them so that we all can be free and victorious in overcoming the existential threat of all of us--not just the disgusting oligarchs.

• World Fuel Services which employs over 200 people in Virginia is strongly opposed to the "framework for a draft regional policy proposal" which seeks to expropriate the petroleum marketing industry. Over time this plan proposes to move Virginia from simple rationing and new taxes to the ultimate prohibition of fossil fuels.
• This plan does not assess the collateral damage it will inflict on state revenue, local tax collections, Virginia's Transportation Trust fund, and consumers.
• Many of the advocates of these policies support regulation to electrify transportation. Those advocates somehow forget to mention that a major component of batteries powering these vehicles is cobalt, 90 percent of which is mined in third world countries under unfavorable working conditions.
• As the number of electric vehicles grows, petroleum marketers will likely have to battle for a share of the electric vehicle charging market with utility companies that see EV charging as a new business opportunity without cost. When utility companies install charging stations, they may seek the ability to include that cost as part of their capital investment. When these costs are approved by governmental regulatory agencies, they can then be passed on to all ratepayers as part of their monthly electric bills.
• World Fuel Services believes this would provide regulated utilities an unfair competitive advantage that Virginia based small businesses simply cannot compete with. I must economically justify and self-fund at risk investments in new equipment like EV charging stations and so should my competition.
• Another likely competitor under this scheme is the state government itself. This is not a concept, as just this past session the General Assembly passed legislation to allow the Departments of Conservation and Recreation, General Services, and Transportation to install electric chargers. Fortunately our association was able to narrow this initiative considerably by limiting the number of state agencies involved and mitigating the threat of unfair competition by requiring the state to sell the power at prevailing market rates including taxes.
• All Virginians, particularly the petroleum marketing and convenience industries, support a clean environment. There are many ways to achieve this without rationing. Incentivizing the sale of electric vehicles does nothing to meet your stated goals of "equity, environmental justice, and non-discrimination." As one example, the stated goals could be achieved far faster and cheaper via efforts to assist low-income Virginians to purchase more fuel efficient vehicles that meet current and future CAFÉ standards.
• History has proven that rationing followed by prohibition - the ultimate goal of TCI - has led to black markets, unregulated and untaxed sales, and undue burdens on law enforcement.
• The impact of these proposals will not be solely on fuel sellers and convenience stores - what about the auto repair industry, muffler shops, service facilities at new car dealers, quick lubes etc.? What about agriculture, construction and watermen who will be forced to scrap present equipment or pay artificially high prices due to rationing? What about the consumer who will experience not only higher prices to operate their personal vehicles, but higher prices for consumer goods and services?
• World Fuel Services opposes the TCI plan to ration, tax and ultimately eliminate fossil fuels.