TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

As a resident of Massachusetts and a U.S. citizen who is extremely concerned about the challenge to survival climate change poses, I fully support and am excited by the Transportation and Climate Initiative, which I understand involves the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and the city of Washington, D.C.. We desperately need to modernize transportation systems and do so in a way that not only avoids making the environmental crisis worse, but actually helps to clean up the present "swamp."

To that end, governors of the states mentined and the mayor of Washington, D.C., must ensure that this transportation plan is bold enough to cut harmful transportation pollution at the scale needed to avert the climate crisis. We need a plan that holds large transportation polluters accountable for the pollution they create and invests in clean transportation solutions including:

More public transit and electric vehicle infrastructure in rural areas.
Expansion of commuter rail, electric vehicles, and streets in the suburbs that are safe, walkable, and bikeable.
Sustainable and equitable housing near transit and electric bus fleets in urban communities.

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

We must shift our transportation policy and dollars to support Complete Streets that allow for all road users to have access. It should not be harder to walk, bike, or use transit, than it is to drive. Building only for cars insures congestion that we can never build our way out of, and destroys local downtowns with land dedicated to surface parking.
Driving creates ground-level pollution and results in significant health problems and increased early death. It is our largest single contributor to greenhouse warming gases and so is rapidly escalating the climate crisis. We need policy that favors road diets, safe sidewalks, protected bike lanes, and bus rapid transit lanes. Not only are such policies good for our health and the health of our planet, they are also good for our communities and our local businesses.

Firstly, many of us do not even believe that these radical plans will impact the climate. We have no control. And we don't want to pay dearly for fantasy living well beyond our own years on earth. Secondly, many believe climate changes, but not due to human activity. The earth was very hot millions of years ago, without human intervention. It is foolish to think we humans have to much power. Thirdly, the HYSTERIA over climate reminds us of the witchcraft mentality during the Middle Ages. The media has hyped this up, and some people act mentally ill on the subject, almost like a religion. I prefer my life not to be reduced to a third world status, so certain politicians, and their cronies in business, can make billions of dollars off of this insanity. WHY are we being forced to pay for something we don't believe in???? Maine is not a wealthy state, with many retires, including myself, who have to drive long distances to get milk and gas. This will burden us even more. Plus put Maine further in debt (except, of course, politicians, and green businesses). NO, DO NOT TAX GAS. It already is highly taxed now. AND, stop, the HYSTERIA!!!!!

Involve the community in any decision-making processes FIRST! — and that the community will be the FIRST!

Agency goals should be to establish ways to talk more directly with environmental justice communities, which can be “co-opted” by outside groups pushing their own agendas. “We need to peel past that and really get to the communities themselves and make sure that they’re hearing us—and, as importantly or more importantly, we’re hearing them.” Garvin says individuals DNREC has interacted previously with on issues of environmental justice. The event was not promoted publicly, but that it is not a closed meeting.

Please stand up for fence-line communities in the TCI process in the Mid-Atlantic.

Why am I and others just hearing about this Policy in the community after the fact?

Hello,
As a mother, I support increasing the sustainability of our transportation system.
Please support a cap on carbon emissions of at least 25% by 2032.
I also request that investments be put towards active transportation like better sidewalks, bicycle infrastructure, and high quality public transit.
Take care,
Amy Hansen

I believe this the another excuse to raise the taxes. We already have too many taxes. Its going to effective businesses, jobs, oil industries, and revenues . I am totally against this.
The claims for a positive environmental impact have not been proven. This proposal places the burden of new taxes in a disproportionate way onto the poor and rural communities.

As a senior Conservation Biology major at Middlebury College, this semester I am taking a class that focuses on transportation in Vermont. Over my time in college, I have learned from an array of courses the dangers that vehicle pollution poses on human and non-human ecosystems. Fortunately for Vermonters, we have some of the best air quality in the country, with the American Lung Association ranking Burlington as one of the cleanest cities for year-round particle pollution.

Yet, we’ve all had a moment rolling down the window of a car, walking down the street in town, or just sitting peacefully outside, when we get a big mouthful of vehicle exhaust and think to ourselves, Ooh, that might not have been great for my lungs. And although we don’t always have these upsetting realizations each time a car goes by, every day we are exposed to some level of unavoidable air pollution. Tailpipe emissions, from passenger cars to 18-wheelers, send a variety of pollutants into the air that we all breath - nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter, to name a few.

Study after study shows that air pollution caused by motor vehicle exhaust has been directly linked to a variety of human health issues, including asthma, bronchitis, stunted lung development, and in more serious cases, premature death. Furthermore, this increased risk of health issues drags with it an increased medical bill for millions of Americans. With transportation responsible for emitting about 40% of Vermont’s GHGs and, as a result, impacting human health, it’s about time that the industry takes a look at what it is costing all of us, and takes action to change that for everyone.

In short, the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) seems to be proposing two things, both of which could improve our air quality, and thus our health. The first is to decrease motor vehicle emissions, and the second is to change behavior and incentivizing a move toward low-carbon / electric vehicles. In the Draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the TCI recognizes that “accelerating the transition to cleaner, more efficient transportation sector will improve public health… for all communities.” (p.3). This last piece is a necessary component of the TCI - that the “public” whose health will be improved is not solely the young, healthy, middle and upper class, but it is the low-income, disadvantaged, and disproportionately afflicted citizens as well.

Therefore, it is important to address where the TCI has room to improve. The Draft MOU resolves that Signatory Jurisdictions will be enabled to, “strategically invest in programs to help their residents transition to affordable, low-carbon transportation options that provide substantial public health benefits, reduce congestion, and increase economic and job opportunities.” The pursuit of a cap-and-invest program, rather than a cap-and-trade program, is promising (despite the quite blurry lines on buying offsets). However, the section that speaks to these investments, Appendix 3A, is upsettingly unclear. Wording such as, “invest the proceeds from the auction of allowances as determined appropriate by each Participating Jurisdiction to achieve TCI Program goals” and “to achieve CO2 emission reductions and other related TCI Program goals” (Appendix 3A), does not provide citizens much insight into what these investments might be. Citizens should be able to understand the investment process, as we are the ones electing the legislature that will then decide how the revenue from allowances will be invested.

In order to have a more robust TCI, it is necessary for the document to outline what investment options look like. As the TCI is pushing a movement towards electric vehicles, it must be responsible for supporting this movement. Therefore, investments should be made in infrastructure that provides charging stations to make the use of EVs feasible for Vermonters. Another solution is for the TCI jurisdiction to provide subsidies on electric vehicles in order to help and incentivize all citizens, particularly lower-income and disadvantaged community members, to transition to cleaner transportation alternatives.

The current TCI, however vague, does recognize the impact that it could have on improving public health of all Vermonters, yet it has much room to grow in defining a solution to get to that endpoint. What is important is that the TCI has the potential to be a step in the right direction towards stronger human and environmental health, as a future electric transportation sector would eliminate the tailpipe and GHG emissions that negatively impact our communities and the non-human entities that inhabit our ecosystems.


Sources:

Draft Memorandum of Understanding of the Transportation and Climate Initiative. (2019).

Brugge D, Durant JL, Rioux C. Near-highway pollutants in motor vehicle exhaust: a review of epidemiologic evidence of cardiac and pulmonary health risks. Environ Health 2007; 6: 23.

Gauderman WJ, Vora H, McConnell R, Berhane K, Gilliland F, Thomas D, Lurmann F, Avol E, Kunzli N, Jerrett M, Peters J. Effect of exposure to traffic on lung development from 10 to 18 years of age: a cohort study. Lancet 2007; 369: 571-577.

Meo, S. A., et al. Effect of motor vehicle pollution on lung function, fractional exhaled nitric oxide and cognitive function among school adolescents. European review for medical and pharmacological sciences 2019; 23: 8678-8686.

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/vehicles-air-pollution-human-health

I am writing as a concerned Vermonter, an avid skier that worries I wont share this love of mine with my grandchildren, and a hobby that is inherent with the ethos of Vermont; but above all I write as a person that cares about the welfare of my fellow global citizens. How many scientific reports, grim news articles and shocking images will it take to jar people to change their daily habits and consumption patterns. I feel optimistic that people are becoming acutely aware of how dire the situation is, but feel that we need policy to drive change at the highest level.

I call on the Gov. Phil Scott of Vermont to agree to all terms of the TCI.

Hold polluters accountable.

We need to hold hold transportation polluters *and* invest in clean transportation solutions including:

-More public transit and electric vehicle infrastructure in rural areas
-Expansion of commuter rail, electric vehicles, and streets in the suburbs that are safe, walkable, and bikeable
-Sustainable and equitable housing near transit and electric bus fleets in urban communities

We need to be bold and ambitious. We need a plan that creates clean public transportation and at the same time cuts transportation pollution.