TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

I would like to thank Gov. Lamont for requesting that CT formally sign on to TCI.
Reducing transportation sector emissions is important to me because of the dire climate situation which is largely driven by transportation C02. The climate crisis is UPON us, here and now, and we are losing time to do everything we can to mitigate the losses to come. It is also important to address social justice, since poor communities bear the brunt of climate problems. We have already lost decades in making the broad and unprecedented changes that are needed. Please do everything you can.
Please choose ***the most aggressive**** greenhouse gas emissions cap.
Any TCI policy should address equity and investment in overburdened and under-served communities as a first and foremost priority.

We need a more environmentally friendly transportation system that includes: electric vehicles; mass transit systems that use alternative non-polluting fuels; efficiently designed urban bus routes for local and express routes that will reduce the carbon emissions that are threatening our air and causing climate change.

As a mother of two teens and resident of this beautiful state, I am concerned about the climate crisis, our future, my children's future and future generation’s futures. To this end, I urge Vermont to participate in the Transportation and Climate Initiative so that all Vermonters, including my kids, live in a world where they do not have to choose between being able to get where they need to go and polluting the planet irreparably.

We have a shrinking window of opportunity here. If we continue to drag our feet and take baby steps we will miss the mark and change the planet irreparably. Now is the time to take bold action. Choosing to support the TCI is one way we can act.

Vermont, like other states, desperately needs additional funding to create innovative, equitable transportation options for all, including seniors, people with disabilities, people with low incomes, for whom transportation costs and accessibility are an added burden, children, residents and visitors alike to our great state. TCI can provide this support.

As an individual who loves to recreate outside I see the high need to preserve the beauty and fresh air, biodiversity and wildlife, and make our state more accessible. We might be a rural state, but that is no excuse for expecting people to rely solely on personal vehicles, which are costly to operate and have limitations for many, in addition to being high polluters.

As you know, Vermont’s participation in a cap and invest program is not new. Under Governor Jim Douglas, Vermont joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in 2008. This cap and invest program covers the electric sector in the Northeast, and it has proven very successful, reducing consumer costs and carbon pollution from the power sector by 40%.

Vermont has strategically invested the revenues raised from RGGI, directing the $2 million annually into weatherization programs that help Vermonters stop wasting energy and save money. We know this type of project works — there is no excuse not to adopt TCI as well.
TCI provides the opportunity to tackle the biggest problem of our day — the climate crisis — by reducing emissions in our state’s most carbon-intensive sector, while diverting funds into much-needed transportation infrastructure that will benefit all.

We can either seize this opportunity to make monumental progress and have a chance to prosper in a clean energy future, or accept a status quo that is only becoming more and more difficult for Vermonters and more harmful to our environment.

I urge Vermont to formally join TCI so we can create a clean energy future that works better for everyone, especially our most vulnerable. Thank you for the work you’ve done so far to advance TCI across the region.

Attached please find a study by MJ Bradley describing the potential benefits of renewable natural gas to the TCI region. (This study is referred to in our comments submitted under a separate form.)

My main objection to the TCI concerns a calculation of the social cost of carbon. Such calculations never provide a value for the social benefits of carbon. One simple, but accurate, way to calculate the benefits of carbon would divide the US GDP by the number of tons of carbon emitted by all sectors of the economy. Such a calculation would reveal that the benefits of carbon exceed its costs by a ratio of 800:1. You cannot simply look at the cost of carbon in isolation from it benefits. The TDI exhibits this flaw and therefore does not deserve public support.

I haven't seen a thorough analysis of the total systemic energy commitment – not just energy used at the point of moving people and things, but also systemically embodied – in various transportation options, including fixed-route and on-demand transit service and getting purchased products to end users, in various demographic situations, especially rural and suburban. Furthermore, not just equipment, but employee energy use must be factored into all options. Too often I feel energy use at the "retail" level gets all the focus, and I am hoping this initiative takes the matter wholistically.

This is not OK! And I hadn’t heard anything about it. This should be for the citizens to decide.