TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

I support this TCI initiative. We need to get under control the amount of carbon emissions especially in this very populated Northeast quadrant of our country. If this includes a gas tax hike, so be it! The costs of NOT supporting such a proposal will far outweigh any costs of implementing it over the long run. The continued development of, and access to public transportation in a city such as Boston where the roads always seem to be jam-packed is crucial to the health of our city and metropolitan area and its inhabitants. Getting neighboring states on board will also be invaluable in this age of increasing mobility. I heartily support this effort!!

My name is Erica Bartlett, and I live in Portland, Maine. I’m writing in support of the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) because Maine is in great need of clean transportation options. I’m grateful that Gov. Mills is focusing on climate change, including the issue of pollution from emissions, and that this effort has strong bipartisan support.

I hope that the TCI policy design take the latest science on climate emissions into consideration. I would also ask that the policy addresses issues of equity so that rural, low-income, and/or aging populations are not hurt by this program – rather, they should be helped. We need more rural transit options, including electric cars and buses, but we also need more of those options in urban areas. I look forward to seeing how this initiative evolves, and thanks again to those who are leading this effort.

There is no "Climate Crisis" or "Climate Emergency"! Stop the fear mongering. Vermont has an "Affordability Crisis" that needs attention. It's time to address what matters most to Vermonters such as lowering the cost of living by eliminating the state pension shortfall and lowering high property taxes and healthcare premiums.

Your TCI is intended to make purchasing transportation fuels so painfully expensive that the astronomically high price discourages people from buying it. In short, consumers will have to pay more at the pump to fund increased government spending. Make no mistake, this is a tax. More precisely, it is a carbon dioxide tax being implemented through a gas tax.

But, unlike motor fuel taxes levied to pay for roads, bridges, and transportation infrastructure (a reasonable fee for use), the TCI would be the equivalent of a “sin tax” – a penalty for engaging in bad behavior. I do not believe that driving to and for work, transporting children to school, transporting goods, going to the grocery store, and all the other necessary activities that generally require a vehicle should be treated by governments as a sin. These are not activities people can, or should be forced to, avoid.

I support Maryland's adoption of a regional bipartisan transportation
policy that achieves a minimum 40 percent
reduction in transportation sector climate
pollution by 2030. This will help to keep Maryland on track to meet
the climate goals updated by the General
Assembly in 2016.

Taxation is theft. We’re already taxed enough as it is. Quit using something that naturally occurs as a method to force more control over those that you represent.

It is critical to look at, and act on the Climate Emergency from a holistic perspective. Transportation is an important sector to address, so is access to the local food system. Food Hubs are one solution to address food and transportation together. Funding from TCI could help support the creation of food hubs based on population density, demographics and relationship to food producing areas. Food Hubs that are decentralized but well planned shorten distance of travel from production of food to consumer, thus reducing miles traveled and fuel used. Hubs become spaces for building relationships, strong communities and encourage business enterprise development (i.e. value added products, or incubator accelerators). Hubs could be placed near population centers, thus addressing issues of food access and social equity. Food Hubs that prioritize regenerative, organic and soil building agriculture businesses can help accelerate soil as a carbon sequestering, or carbon drawdown opportunity. Food Hubs are a good investment for both reducing carbon use, capturing carbon, and supporting business development and community health and well being.

I own and operate a small business in Maine. To service our customers we travel many miles per year on our fleet of vehicles. Maine is already at a competitive disadvantage due to our geographical make-up, high cost of electricity and one of the highest overall tax rates in the Union.



We have limited public transportation which require most folks from Maine to commute via vehicle to and from work. In addition, we have to rely on our vehicles to purchase groceries, visit local clothing stores, transport our children to school events, etc.. This list goes on and on. We cannot simply park our vehicles and chose another mode of transportation.



To include Maine in this initiative will be catastrophic to our economy. As a business owner I will be forced to pass this cost on to my Customers. They in turn will have less disposable income to fuel the economy in Maine. My Customers already have a struggle to pay their fuel bills. I cannot speak to how this will impact other states, but I suspect outside of the large cities (Which already have large participation rates in public transportation) the rural areas will be in a similar situation as many of us in Maine.

Enough already with all of this wasteful spending. You people know darn well that doing this will have virtually no impact on carbon emissions until China, India and Russia agree to lowering their emissions. All this will do is take more of my hard earned money and I'm sick of it. Know this Governor Baker, you have lost my support as well as my entire families support. I will try to change as many peoples minds i can to not support you or your policies...enough is enough!!!

I do not support your initiatives and am alarmed by the apparent motive to bypass legislation and raise the gas tax.