TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

I support the regional transportation and climate initiative because only by working together with neighboring states can we make progress toward expanding rail service and pulling back on highway expansion.

This state doesn’t need another tax increase, no matter how you package it. This democratic run legislature thinks nothing of adding to the tax burden on the citizens of this state. How about finding ways to save money for the taxpayers? Ya’ know, sharpen the pencils. This is a bad idea that will hopefully affect your political aspirations. Then again, I am a Republican who voted Scott Brown and Geoff Diehl and has no desire to see any of you re-elected anyway. All I know is , there are ways to raise the money you so desperately crave, without stepping on us even harder. So pissed. Anybody can get elected and raise taxes. Make what you get from us work. Spend some time on the job.

Over the past decade, the Northeast region of the United States has helped lead the country—and the world—in supporting and developing clean, renewable sources of electricity. Taken together, the policies of Northeast states, from Maine to Maryland, have generated billions of dollars in investment for solar, wind, and efficiency. One driving force behind this investment is a regional initiative that caps emissions from the electricity sector, charges power plants for the emissions they generate, and invests the revenue from those fees into efficiency and clean energy programs. This initiative has helped fundamentally change the region’s electricity sector: we have achieved unprecedented penetration of renewables, nearly eliminated the use of coal, and reduced overall electricity use at a time of economic expansion.
The next big step for the region is to bring that same sense of commitment, ingenuity, and purpose to clean transportation.
Transportation is the largest source of pollution in the Northeast region, comprising more than 40 percent of total regional global warming emissions (Georgetown Climate Center 2015). In addition to the health impacts associated with rising temperatures, soot and ground-level ozone from the region’s cars
and trucks are responsible for more than 50,000 asthma attacks, 1,000 deaths,
and other pollution-related illnesses that incur approximately $27 billion in total health care costs every year (Holmes-Gen and Barrett 2016). The health impacts of transportation affect all of us, but especially vulnerable are children, the elderly, the chronically ill, and people in low-income communities (who often live in or near freight corridors).
A growing number of people are choosing to live in neighborhoods where nearby amenities and public transportation can make car-free living more feasible. Above, the Boston Harborwalk, more than 40 miles long, connects the city’s waterfront neighborhoods. Forward-thinking policies can help the region adapt to growing populations and reduce dependence on personal vehicles.

You people want these taxes to create more jobs and profits for MORE political hacks. YOU ARE KILLING THE GOLDEN GOOSE!

We already rejected your gas tax.
In this age of “global warming” , I suggest you stick your proposal where the sun don’t shine !!

I feel this will produce a beurocracy that will tax and spend money on something that will do a absolutely nothing to reduce carbon emissions. I do not want the State of Maine to have anything to do with this money grab scam.