TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

I have asthma. Anything we can do to reduce carbon pollution, which exacerbates my asthma, is a good thing. Raters of asthma have been rising in the USA. We need more public transportation, more access to electric vehicles and changing stations, and cleaner transportation overall. Please join the TCI initiative.

There many seniors living in Bellows Falls, VT senior housing facilities. Many no longer drive and depend on calling for rides with local organizations. People living in close access to town shops, library, post office, grocery stores can not walk very far so they take their cars. If we invested in small electric scooters with convienent baskets on them I think a town the size of Bellows Falls could cut down on our carbon footprint quite bit. Personally I would buy a scooter and use it in good weather rather than my car. I could charge my scooter at home however those living in housing would need charging stations and parking space.

Please be mindful of the real science and ignore the bull propagated by some green interest groups.
We are not headed for the Apocalypse. The best true science, as reported by real research institutions and the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] predict moderate warming and slow sea level rise over the coming century, with small economic impacts.
There will be extreme events including droughts, storms, and floods; but these will not increase greatly in frequency or severity. The most significant thing about the past decade is the massively increased number of video cameras on cell phones, ready to capture dramatic footage.
Zoning laws and building codes should be changed to limit construction of buildings on beach dunes for example, or housing developments built on filled-in salt marshes. Zoning policy should encourage placing residences close to public transportation and to workplaces.

Electricity generation should not only include "wind farms" and "solar farms" but much more important, we should start expanding the amount of electricity generated by nuclear plants. Please note that in spite of some dramatic accidents, nuclear power is still the safest and cleanest of all our power sources. We need energy diversity, so coal plants should be kept operational.

According to most climate models, the equator will warm only slightly while temperate and arctic winters will be much milder.

I write asking you to take action so that the people of Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic states can gain the benefits of a free-market economy. Greenhouse gas pollution is an economic externality. When I chose to turn the key in my car I do so knowing that my decision to do so will not impose on me anywhere near the full cost of the decision I make. The costs of the pollution I create are borne in part by society as a whole rather than me. Such a subsidy prevents our society from enjoying the benefits of a free-market economy where by scarce resources (including pure air and a stable climate) are allocated efficiently and equitably. The option of a solution through regulation is both inefficient and ineffective. Let the invisible hand of the market work its' magic.

CT STAKEHOLDER INPUT ON OCTOBER 1, 2019
FRAMEWORK FOR A DRAFT REGIONAL POLICY PROPOSAL

October 12, 2020

Dear Transportation Climate Initiative Regional Policy Workgroup,

Thank you for the opportunity to provide input on the “Framework for a Draft Regional Policy Proposal” released on October 1, 2019. I support a regional policy to reduce transportation pollution and believe robust and meaningful public input into both the regional and state decision-making on the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) is necessary to ensure a just and equitable policy design for Connecticut. I offer feedback on the proposal’s sections below.

Our current transportation system in Connecticut and throughout the Northeast is inequitable, prioritizing car ownership and ridership over all other forms of transportation. This has, in turn, created pollution of many kinds and has resulted in transportation as the largest sector of greenhouse gas emissions.

Equity advisory committees
These committees are necessary to ensure accountability at all levels. It is essential that these committees have true decision-making power and include members from the relevant communities. To ensure participation from underserved and impacted communities, financial compensation for attending should be provided.

Dedicated investments for disproportionately impacted communities
At least 35% of investments, and ideally more than 50%, must be in disproportionately impacted communities to adequately address racial and economic justice issues. Antiracist discrimination, that is discriminating against people who are White in favor of Black and Latinx, is needed to make TCI an antiracist policy. More money must go to communities long left out of investment decisions to create equity. The Center for Latino Progress’s 2019 survey on TCI further indicates high support (82%) for prioritization of equity and environmental justice in investments, with 67% also supporting a dedicated percentage of investments going to address disproportionately impacted communities.

Air quality monitoring as complementary policy
Air quality monitoring is a necessary first step, but is the bare minimum needed. California’s model is a precedent for Connecticut, setting air quality improvement targets and strategies in individual communities and, through grants, empowers community organizations to facilitate this process. Because air quality is often worst in low-income communities and those with high percentages of Black and Latinx residents, the MOU should commit to lowering pollution in these communities.

Workforce training and employment
Creating good jobs in environmentally beneficial sectors is one of the most promising aspects of TCI. It is essential that strong labor standards are upheld and that job preference is given to those in environmental justice communities. Especially in this current age of COVID, well-paying and stable jobs are in short supply; TCI opens opportunities for high-quality jobs. TCI can and should also encourage apprenticeship and training programs.


Sincerely,

Jennifer G. Kleindienst
241 West St.
Middletown, CT 06457

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.

We must move forward in the attempt to protect our air and waters with the low carbon transportation policy. States must initiate these important projects as we await sanity in Washington.

Transportation and Climate Initiative:
With due respects.
It is important today and for the new generation, to design a regional low-carbon transportation policy proposal that would cap and reduce carbon emissions from the combustion of transportation fuels through a cap-and-invest program or other pricing mechanism also to complete the policy development process within one year, after which each jurisdiction will decide whether to adopt and implement the policy.”
The climate has been acting more destructive storms, high rising ocean.Less carbon, less toxic oil and cell of black smoke which created more air pollution ; Today changes must be created for the sake of lives , forest, ocean , lands.Lowering the heat of the sun. Sense 1990 the over amount, use of forest trees for wood leaven the most important places that kept the clean air working for all; has created the lost of power of the trees to lower the heat on our atmosphere . Time to stop the use of Forest , carbon,toxic oil.Cleaner transportation : train, car, buses, trucks,boats , chimney, air planes, burning forests,All these most change.. So the climate can respond less dangerous and not hurt the new generations with the destruction all these pollutants that will get worst if nothing its done.
Ms. Maria Celia Hernandez 1-21-2020