TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

Maine is a rural State and Maine is a poor State. Maine depends on agriculture, fishing and forestry all of which use gas and diesel. Joining this group will create an additional burden on hard working and honest Maine people. Janet Mills was not elected to run a dictatorship in Maine. TCI is bad for Maine and bad for this country.

We have just had the warmest decade since the collection of weather data began. The frequency and extent of fires across the globe has risen dramatically and storms and floods are also more severe. This is causing a refugee crisis as people are displaced from their homes or are no longer able to farm. Transportation is a major contributor to the carbon emissions that have caused this disaster. If we do not convert to low carbon emission modes of transportation, we will create a climate that does not support human life and will extinguish many of the species on earth. This reformation of transportation must occur immediately as we have yet to experience full the impact of the carbon emissions that are already present in the atmosphere, additional warming from the levels currently present will continue for many years hence. Our per capita consumption rate is 23 fold that of China. They are the highest carbon emitter and we are next. We must lead the way and dramatically reduce our per capita emissions and transportation is one of several areas that can achieve a substantial reduction.

Queen of Maine mills has found perhaps another way of scamming the good people of Maine of hard earned money. Turning this great State into another California is not what the people here want.

We do not need our gas prices rising. In places like central and northern Maine we don’t have bus transportation and many need to drive 45 minutes or more one way.

Vermont has led the nation in climate-friendly initiatives, and that makes me proud to be a Vermonter. So, with the TCI, it should be a no-brainier that our state joins it.

We must curtail our usage of fossil fuels. There are varying degrees of opinions on that, which is understandable, but please remember that emissions from burning fossil fuels do not magically disappear in the atmosphere. Add to that the billions and billions of engines, and thousands of power stations generating emissions. The volume of heat-trapping gasses going into the atmosphere is huge. Earth's atmosphere is large, but human needs for transportation and electricity, for example, have exceeded its capacity to withstand the heat-trapping gases we put into it.

As a result, Earth is warming, and weather is changing. People are dying, lands are becoming inhabitable, and extinctions are on the rise. Scary stuff, and there is much data to back it up.

Tough decisions must happen now, and unfortunately, some may financially affect people, but our future is on the line – study after study proves this. The actions we take or do not take now will dictate the fate of all life on Earth. To back up my assertion, watch the Weather Channel for a month or two and track how many times "historic", "unprecedented", "abnormal", and "record" in forecasts and reports.

Vermont must join the TCI.

This comment is in response to the second panel discussion at today's Technical Workshop in Boston that discussed investments that could be made to the transportation system with revenue generated from a TCI program. There were several examples of electrifying the transportation sector as one type of investment that other regions (Quebec, California?) have made with funds from cap and trade programs. While electrifying the transportation sector decreases carbon emissions, so too does a reduction in VMT. Investments in active transportation infrastructure (walking, biking and transit) would not only reduce emissions, but would also make our roads safer for the most vulnerable users. Redesigning our road network to increase options for people to choose safe walking and biking opportunities would complement electrification and provide needed capital funding to make roads safer for all. It will be important to ensure that TCI revenue reinforces related, complementary policies and systems, as well as working to transition our fossil fuel-based transportation system to a more carbon neutral one.

It seems to me that there is plenty of room down the middle of Rte 422 for a train, perhaps connecting King of Prussia. Just thought I would point that out.
If people can put so much planning into all the gas and oil pipelines, then I’m sure we can put at least as much thought into public transportation and clean energy!
It is a lot nicer and generally safer to take a train than to drive a vehicle.

Please support the Transportation and Climate Initiative. We need to reduce our carbon footprint. Air pollution is harmful, especially to the young. Let's work together to solve this problem.