TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

My city has already switch public transportation (city buses) over to natural gas. Using electric buses is just a matter of time & money, but I'm certain it WILL happen. Other places need to move forward with renewal power solutions.

It is so important to address climate change. Especially for our children. It is time to stop thinking only for ourselves and for only this present moment. It is truly incomprehensible to me how self serving political change has become. Enough said. Let's try something different. It might even be a surprise that provides a long term economic advantage.

Outrageous! Since when is Massachusetts taxed without representation! We are so overburdened with taxes as is and this tax will hit the middle class the hardest. Where are our tax dollars spent? Not on transportation? Another train derailed today! Infrastructure? Nope. It's so old that I'm shocked that the lights come on when I flip the switch. Road maintenance. The potholes in Boston have yet to be fixed on our major highways since last winter. Encore is paying a large amount of taxes..where's it going? We "fined" them for an extra $35 million. Where is that money going? Who is running the show? State taxes originate in the House of Representatives. "Carbon fee"?? Who do you think you're kidding??????

I urge that Vermont participate in the Transportation and Climate Initiative as a step toward reducing our transportation carbon footprint. We may be a small state, but we do have an impact, and with 44% of our carbon emissions coming from transportation, this is a critically important step.

Traveling regularly to Keene, NH, I am constantly aware of the insufficiency of our public transportation system. If we had buses traveling between Brattleboro and Keene, I would be taking them. TCI could mean that all of us would have better public transportation infrastructure, and fewer of us would have cars on the road.

I'm aware that there is resistance to TCI because of the burden that increased prices on gas would put on poorer Vermonters, who often must drive to jobs that are often far from home, and who can't afford to buy an electric vehicle, even with incentives. If done right, TCI can ease these issues, rather than becoming an added burden for poor Vermonters. I urge that funds received by Vermont through TCI be directed into programs that help poor Vermonters with transportation needs. This means that public transportation should be treated as a public good and be free or very inexpensive, incentives for fuel efficient cars should be means-weighted enough so that someone who is driving a third-hand gas-guzzler can afford to replace it. Vermonters with accessibility needs (who are often among the poorest of us) must also have their needs put foremost, and accessibility should be a primary consideration in building out new transportation infrastructure.

Again, I urge that Vermont formally join TCI, and take this critically important step toward a cleaner energy future and an improved transportation infrastructure that will benefit us all.

Sincerely,
Karen Saunders

As a student currently working on transportation concerns in Middlebury, I was very curious to read the Memorandum of Understanding put forward by the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI). The TCI proposes the establishment of a regional program composed of 12 states and Washington, D.C., all committing to transition to a low-carbon, sustainable transportation sector through the implementation of a regional cap-and-invest program.
I agree with the TCI’s emphasis on cleaning up the transportation sector. If we’re going to act on climate change, we need to act fast. The 2018 IPCC report gave us twelve years (now ten) to cut global greenhouse gas emissions 45% below 2010 levels to have any hope of limiting warming beyond 1.5C. The recent ratification of the Global Warming Solutions Act (H.688) by the Vermont House is a promising start to what will hopefully be decisive, thoughtful, and socially-just continued action by the Vermont government to curb emissions.
The TCI is another step forward for Vermont, one unique in that it specifically tackles transportation, which makes up nearly half of the state’s current climate pollution. Curbing transportation emissions is a must if Vermont seeks to meet our commitment to the 2015 Paris Climate Accord by 2025. So yes, let’s join the TCI…BUT…
It MUST fully center the needs and rights of low income and working-class Vermonters in a just transition to a renewable energy-powered transportation future.
This is the question I always want to ask when considering climate legislation: who is going to be squeezed? Implementing a cap-and-invest system with a declining cap certainly puts the pressure on fuel suppliers, but that pressure is in part passed off to Vermonters filling up their tanks at the gas station. For some, the TCI will help lower the cost of transitioning to an electric vehicle (EV) and make it more feasible with rural electrification. But what about those Vermonters who simply do not have the budget for a new vehicle, whether or not it’s electric and whether or not the cost is lowered?
More accessible to some does not mean accessible to all.
This is the very issue the Vermont legislature hesitated on last session with a carbon tax proposal. House Speaker Mitzi Johnson said she can’t see a “straight-up carbon tax” being viable without already having a better public transportation system in rural areas. Isn’t that the same problem we see in the TCI, that putting a cap on carbon allowances might ultimately hurt rural and working-class Vermonters the most? The difference being that the TCI hides behind hopes of EV incentives and electric charging stations that simply do not make sense for many Vermonters.
To its credit, the TCI does include a clause on equity:

“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Signatory Jurisdictions will work with communities to ensure that the benefits of a cap-and-invest program flow equitably to communities that are underserved by clean transportation alternatives, disproportionately bear the costs of the current transportation system, or suffer disproportionate impacts of vehicular pollution and climate change”

I’m glad that there is recognition of the disproportionate costs of transportation to vulnerable groups, but I would hope to see social and community justice front and center of Vermont’s implementation of the TCI, rather than relegated to a side note.
I’ve experienced firsthand the frustrations of working-class people facing rising fuel prices when I lived in Bordeaux, France during the beginning of the yellow vest protest movement in November 2018. The high price of gas and a high of living in general hit the French middle and working-classes the hardest, especially in rural and peri-urban areas. People across the country demonstrated for weeks calling for lower fuel taxes, a solidarity tax on wealth, and a minimum wage increase, among other demands. I can’t help but draw some, albeit limited, parallels to Vermont. The unrest in France is a stark example of what happens when governments enact climate legislation without fully considering and addressing the needs of those who are currently the most dependent on the system the way it is now. Vermonters are perhaps not numerous enough to pressure their government the way that French protesters did, which gives legislators here all the more responsibility to be proactive about the way they implement any new transportation legislation.
Vermont could benefit greatly from increased electrification, expanded and improved public transportation, and smart development. That’s why I’m saying yes to Vermont participating in the TCI…BUT doing so by centering the needs of low income and working-class Vermonters. I don’t pretend to know the perfect solution, but I do encourage those making the decisions to find ways to minimize the burdens placed on individuals and households and maximize their ability to lead a dignified life.

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

I appreciate this effort and it’s bipartisan nature. I am concerned about climate change, but also concerned that any new policy to drive down emissions be carefully crafted. In Maine, emissions from transportation constitute our largest source of climate change causing pollution. We are largely a rural state, and many of our citizens are not well off. Yet a culture here has evolved where driving large heavy vehicles such as pickup trucks and SUVs is common practice. I believe one measure with potential is to incentivize the purchase of smaller and lighter vehicles without penalizing those who drive larger and heavier ones. If a carbon fee on fuels used for transportation is instituted, it will be important to avoid the kind of backlash we have seen in France. The fee must be large enough to cause a change in consumer habits, but should not be punitive to those who feel they must have a big vehicle. Consumer freedom of choice should prevail, but with attractive savings accruing to those who downsize. Some sort of break for low income people might be one way of achieving emissions reductions without causing a major backlash.