TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

We need a regional plan, involving the governors of regional states and the mayor of Washington, D.C., to ensure that any 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

Please make these a priority in your plans - thank you.

I support a strong plan to combat transportation pollution and carbon emissions. I am concerned about climate change, and I know that we can do better than just building bigger highways and encouraging more car trips. I especially care about clean-energy investments such as greenways in areas overburdened by pollution and where residents don't have good transportation access.

Thank you for this bipartisan work, setting a strong example for how to move us forward.

I urge you to adopt a strong TCI program. In order for the program to be strong, please enact the following:

A cap on carbon emissions of at least 25% by 2032

An increase in the minimum investment in overburdened and underserved communities (>35%)

Request that investments be put towards active transportation like better sidewalks, bicycle infrastructure, and high quality public transit

According to a recently released study by Harvard and other institutions, if the program is designed appropriately, up to 1,100 lives can be saved annually, and the region could see $11 billion in health benefits each year.

Thank you.

This seems like a plan that has some potential to make change in Vermont. I hope that it moves forward.

I am strongly in favor this initiative. Most of Vermont's carbon emissions are from the transportation sector and there needs to be an investment to help us make the transition. This type of cap-and-invest program has been hugely successful elsewhere in North America, and I hope we can take this step in the Northeast. The data shows that places with a cap-and-invest program can have their economies grow while their carbon emissions decline. I'm grateful for the work of all those involved.

Governor,
I can't afford an increase of 17 cents in the gas tax. I can't drive 30% less than I already do. My husband and I have not taken any vacation trips, not even in local Maine for fiive years. I can't drive 30% less to work. I already only shop on days I go to work. We can't now afford gas to go to the Fryeburg Fair or go to movies in Bangor or take a leisurely drive for fun. We bought a car that was smaller to save on gas. Electric vehicles, besides being untenable in cold winter months, are not better for our environment. Not in their manufacture nor in the disposal, something the car manufacturers don't care about and green non conservatives have not even thoroughly considered.
Your plan will sink the Maine economy. Our vacationland will become a wasteland of unemployed people.
Make your budget balance by spending less, just as we rural Mainers must, or you will be spending less time as Governor.

Those proposing such a tax in the State of Maine need to spend time living in the parts of the state where one must travel for hours to get to hospitals, schools, shopping, etc. We have a state legislature full of self-absorbed, self-promoting radicals. One legislator, I recall, was observed "filling up" in New Hampshire because he lived just across the Maine / NH line! Such hypocrisy undermines the well being of our citizens. Hopefully, the ballot box will bring this nightmare to an end, and there will be some common sense once again in Maine government (and we need to start at the VERY TOP!!)

I am deeply opposed to Maine being part of this initiative. While I support reasonable steps to reduce our carbon footprint, this initiative is not reasonable. Maine is a relatively poor state, with an aging population, incomes below average and many people living paycheck to paycheck. Adding this tax to already high fuel prices will be burdensome on hardworking Maine families. Personally, it will add to my fuel costs to drive to work, add to our expenses at the grocery and other stores (the companies who deliver goods to stores cannot absorb this additional tax and the cost will trickle down at the market) and it will add significantly to my husband's costs. He is a self-employed truck driver; he will take the hit for the additional tax, which cuts into our profits, plus we will have the higher cost at the market and likely higher heating costs. We will seriously need to consider leaving Maine after 25 years living here if this goes through. PLEASE reconsider, as it looks like other states are reconsidering. Mainers simply cannot afford it!!