TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

Maine can absolutely not afford this. In an extremely rural state with virtually 0 public transportation, most Mainers have significant drives to get to and from work each day. Raising prices is not going to keep people from driving: they have no choice. Instead it will just drive us further and further into poverty, causing more and more people to leave our state as soon as they are able.

Transportation is the number one source of climate pollution in the United States. In order to cut emissions, and to slow the impact of global warming, we need to reimagine the way that we transport people and goods. As a Pennsylvanian living in Massachusetts for 30+ years, I am very pleased to learn that my “homes” have joined with Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., to work on a groundbreaking policy to modernize the transportation sector as part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and Transportaion & Climate Initiative (TCI). Transportation polluters should be held accountable, spurring necessary modernization & invention. I support this and I urge TCI to aggressively promote and adopt innovative initiatives. I live in Hingham, where we have train service and love our Commuter Boat to Boston. But, for the most part unless we work in downtown Boston, driving is the only reasonable option. We need alternatives that allow growth and economic vitality with minimal additional pollution. Is it time to insist that internet purchases be delivered to the door in an electric vehicle? I urge you, Gov. Baker, to push TCI to be as ambitious as possible, for the sake of my community’s health and livelihood.

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., are working on a groundbreaking policy to modernize the transportation sector under the Transportation and Climate Initiative.

In order for this regional plan to work, governors of these states 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
But opponents of the Transportation and Climate Initiative have been flooding a public comment page on this plan with negative comments. Now, we need to turn the tide to demonstrate how many people want to see a bold and ambitious plan to cut transportation pollution in their state and in the region. Please ensure that our environment and wildlife are number 1. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Kristin A. Crage

While the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance applauds Governor Charlie Baker and his administration’s efforts to reduce pollution in the transportation sector, we have serious concerns with the direction in which the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) is taking our state, all without explicit legislative approval. Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Kathleen Theoharides claims the difference between TCI and a gas tax is the point of regulation. This is irrelevant to consumers who will soon be paying more at the pump for this regressive tax scheme. Make no mistake: this is a very slippery slope for Massachusetts. Although this is still in the early stages, lawmakers from other states in the TCI agreement are seeking legislative approval. Governor Baker’s administration, whether legally required or not, should also act in good faith and seek legislative approval. There must be an open and transparent legislative process on the details of the agreement.

This initiative will devastate rural Mainers and the poor. It is not feasible for the State of Maine to drive electric cars - not affordable cars for the middle class and poor, slow and unreliable operation in the cold, let alone the snow. No chargers available. Governor Mills should know better being from Farmington. Raising the gas tax will just make it harder on the already tax burdened State of Maine.

Transportation is our largest source of global warming emissions (regionally and nationally).

I am requesting that New York state formally join the plan to reduce emissions.

The policy has to have a strong component of equity by prioritizing clean investments in areas overburdened by pollution and/or for those who don't have access.

I am glad for the bipartisan nature of this project, moving us forward while the federal government takes us backward.

Thank you Gov. Lamont for participating in the TCI. I urge that our state formally sign the initiative. We must control greenhouse gases
before our planet is placed in further peril.
I further urge the TCI leadership to choose the most aggressive greenhouse gas emissions cap.

Thank you for your consideration.

I support TCI. The reason is because we need to invest in transportation while targeting climate change. TCI gets to solutions to both these major issues. The costs will be minimal, while the benefits obvious.

As a resident of a TCI state, I'm respectfully requesting a strong TCI program that includes:
1.) A cap of 25% or more on n carbon emissions by 2032.
2.) An increase of 35% or more in the minimum investment in overburdened and underserved communities.
3.) Additional substantive investments in active transportation including: clean-powered public transit, better sidewalks, and the bicycling infrastructure.
An appropriately designed regional policy for low-carbon transportation could save up to 1,100 lives annually in the Northeast & Mid-Atlantic states and allow the region to see as much as $11 billion in health benefits each year!