TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

I am proud that my state, where I was born and raised, is part of this initiative. Maryland, known as miniature America, is one of the most beautiful states. This initiative will allow us to remain so and to be a leader in saving our planet. I think good steps would be
requiring all buses to be electric ASAP and requiring all new road and gas station construction to include charging stations.

Our young people are showing us the way--increasingly rejecting cars and driving in favor of public transportation--but the state of our transportation infrastructure is a scandal and a ticking carbon bomb. Enough. It is past time to invest in clean transportation, and 100% clean energy overall.

We live in a capitalistic republic. The only times things seem to change is if consumers pay for something. Cars and cows seem to be the big causes of air pollution from what I understand as a simple citizen. We will need vehicles for all of our current lifetimes. A consumer needs a reason - a better price being a big one - to buy cars that don't emit as much CO2. The same goes for power plants, trucking, etc. A great start has been with Solar Panels. It is cheaper for us, so we use it. An electric car is too much of a pain in the ass, so we can't use it. Wind and solar are the future of humankind. Electric cars, superior batteries are also the future. There are so many brilliant scientists. Corporations and leaders have to have the guts to follow the best ones.

Please develop and implement a policy that caps/reduces carbon emissions from transportation

My name is Cliff Strawitch and I live in Ellicott City, Maryland. Having witnessed firsthand the devastation caused to historic downtown Ellicott City by two catastrophic floods in less than two years, which science tells us was made worse by climate change, I am highly motivated to demand action to reduce greenhouse gasses. The recent IPCC and National Climate Assessment reports on climate change make the urgency of such action clear. Since fossil fuel combustion by transportation is now the largest source of greenhouse gasses, action to reduce this source is essential.
Based on my readings, I believe the best way to reduce this source of greenhouse gasses is a tax on fossil fuels used for transportation. This carbon tax on fossil fuel combustion received the endorsement in the Wall Street Journal on January 17 of 3554 economists including 27 Nobel laureates, 15 former chairs of the Council of Economic Advisors and 2 former Secretaries of the US Department of the Treasury. This approach has been demonstrated in British Columbia (BC), Canada since 2008 to both be effective and politically popular. Figure 1{1} shows just how effective it was at reducing refined petroleum fuel use and therefore greenhouse gas emissions in BC as compared to the rest of Canada.

Figure 1: reduction is fuel use in BC as compared to the rest of Canada. The vertical line at 2008 marks the introduction of the fuel tax.
All the revenues generated by this tax were returned to the people as a reduction in other taxes. After some initial resistance, the tax became popular due to this tax reduction feature. Starting at $10 per ton of carbon dioxide, the tax rose $5 per year until 2012, and has remained at $30 per ton ever since.{1} The tax had no statistically significant impact on GDP, a testament to its ability to shield business and consumers. British Columbia’s GDP growth was on par with the rest of Canada from 2008-2011, actually performing slightly better than the rest of Canada by 0.1 percent. In addition, numerous studies, for example the REMI study{2} , show that this approach benefits the majority of families, including the most financially vulnerable, since they will receive more from this carbon dividend than they pay for increased fuel costs.
In his recent book{3}, Professor Gilbert Metcalf of Tufts University points out that a Cap and Trade approach often suffers from political and economic forces that tend to drive the value of a carbon permit for a ton of CO¬2 down to values that are simply too low to be effective at reducing greenhouse gas emissions as is the case with the current European Emission Trading System{3}. In addition, the price volatility caused by these same forces makes planning very difficult for corporations needing to purchase such permits. A carbon tax suffers from neither of these problems and is therefore in my opinion the best way to address greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.



References
1. “Analyzing British Columbia’s Carbon Tax: by Wharton Public Policy Initiative, October 30, 2016, https://publicpolicy.wharton.upenn.edu/live/news/1520-analyzing-british-columbias-carbon-tax
2. The Economic, Climate, Fiscal, Power, and Demographic Impact of a National Fee-and-Dividend Carbon Tax”, Regional Economic Modeling Inc., June 9, 2014, https://citizensclimatelobby.org/remi-report/
3. “Paying for Pollution: Why a Carbon Tax is Good for America”, Gilbert E. Metcalf, Oxford University Press, 2019

‘let them eat cake” has been the motto of these ridiculous, arrogant politicians for too many years. I work very hard for my living and I am beyond sick and tired of them treating me like their personal ATM for their idiotic schemes. This tax must not be passed. The prices of commodities rise and fall and what will they do when prices rise again? People will not be able to commute to their jobs! This tax will destroy the economy. Always remember - the power to tax is the power to destroy.

I support the study to be done to lower carbon emissions from transportation. It is my concern that the raw materials needed to make all new electric cars for our society will be problematic. It might be wiser to retrofit ICE with electric motors. There is a company that is doing that. It is concerning that another peak demand will be created by charging EV's at night. How is the electricity going to be generated for the fueling of EV's that will consume a lot of electricity? Will this turn into a windfall for utilities? This transition needs to be fair and equal. Fuel cells hold such a promise for the future, but, as they stand now, using methane seems counterproductive. The rural transportation problem is huge and complex. Even with auto guided vehicles, the cost will be huge to provide transportation for rural folks who will have no transportation because they cannot afford EV's. The study will bring to the surface problems and solutions to the huge evolution in transportation that is coming. We should be grateful to you for pursuing such a huge project. Thank you!

It’s imperative that we proceed ASAP to a sustainable future across the globe. I’ve been driving electric for nearly eight years now. This is just one way to move towards achieving that goal. The scientific community is as clear as ever that time is not on our side.

The TCI is nothing but a Tax on working "BayStaters". To do this with an executive order shows how little regard the Baker-Polito regime has for the people of Massachusetts. People. Wake up. This is all done to fund the underfunded pensions. This will do nothing to reduce carbon emissions. Carbon emissions are already down 22% across the US. Go TCI the Chinese and the other real polluters. Charlie if you sign this into law you have lost my vote. Funny how all the pro TCI contributors are at the top, like they just posted today....Really?