TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

The intent of your initiative is most laudable, but as the old saying goes "the devil is in the details". And in that initiative I see numerous details that provide opportunities for the devil to do what the devil does.

A cursory examination of your website reveals that you intend to reduce carbon emissions from the combustion of transportation fuels through "a cap-and-invest program or other pricing mechanism".

Please define "other pricing mechanism". Is there more than one? And just who will pay for the monetary needs of the "other pricing mechanism"? I think I can make a pretty good guess.

Your Draft Regional Policy Proposal decrees that:

Spring – Fall 2020 – Participating jurisdictions develop a “model rule” and take any legislative steps that could be needed to implement the regional program.

2021 – Jurisdictions conduct rulemaking process to adopt regulation

So how do you define “jurisdiction” what “legislative steps” will the “jurisdiction” take? Do you mean a mandated increase of the excise tax that Massachusetts taxpayers are already paying for gasoline? We Taxpayers will have something to say about that, and it won’t be “Yassa, Boss.

I recommend that you review the history from which you have obviously not learned. In 2013 the Mass legislature tried to tie future increases in the state gasoline to the CPI – in other words an Automatic Gas Tax Increase. The very next year the people of Massachusetts successfully put on the ballot a referendum question on that fuel tax increase and threw it right back in the legislators' faces. And the minute you try to shove your “other pricing mechanism” down our throats you had better brace yourselves for the very same reaction.

Having reviewed the many implications and the expected results of your planned "initiatives" I have just two words for you -- and those two words are not "Happy Birthday". Those words also apply to the horse you rode in on.

Sincerely yours,
Cornelius Horan

As a citizen of coastal Maine, one the ocean's fastest warming seas,
(already affecting our lobstering industry), and at the "tailpipe" of the nation's carbon emitters, polluting our air, affecting our elder's and children's health, I strongly support a carbon fee and dividend plan like the Citizens Climate Lobby's proposal. It should start at a level to reduce in green-house gas within a relatively short period, 5-10 years, minimize the impact on lower income and rural households, and be based on actual facts.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the discussion on what I consider the most important issue if my lifetime. I so appreciate that this sounds like an honestly bipartisan effort.

The focus on equity for the Transportation and Climate Initiative’s cap and invest program is absolutely vital to program design. However, the program should not also forget that the program should lead toward a price on carbon emissions that approximates the social cost of carbon. Otherwise, the TCI will not fulfill its purpose and contribute toward achieving commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement.

I am a member of a group of concerned citizens that are developing a plan to reduce carbon emissions generated by building operations in our town. We feel this is an issue we can address to some degree locally. However, to reduce GHG emissions from the transportation sector we need regional efforts such as the TCI. I am fully supportive of the TCI and request that the resulting policy have a price that's high enough to effectively reduce emissions and at the same time protect rural and low/moderate income populations. I am grateful to see bipartisan support for the TCI.

I have become a single issue voter concerned about the environment and the future of our beautiful and amazing planet. I am really encouraged to learn about the TCI and its bi-partisan nature. It staves off despair. I urge all decision-makers to put in place a price on carbon that is high enough to be effective and that has a social equity component so that the lowest income people don't get hurt. I much prefer a carbon fee and dividend return, which is a revenue neutral program that is market based and fair and effective.

We should have a price high enough to both offset the damage that GHGs cause and undo some of the damage already done. This has to be done equitably, taking into account low income and rural populations.

Please do not impose gas and diesel restrictions on Maine. As a citizen of Maine I do not approve of this governor making this decision without an overwhelming citizen approval and more understanding as to its implications

We are not California. I thought we have made it quite clear we don't want Obama's cap and trade resurrected. We killed Rykersons anti poor, and anti senior bill. Stop persecuting us. We the people cannot afford anymore destruction to the economy. I urge you to stop this folly. It's mean and vindictive.

Sincerely,
Vincent TAmmaro
Lewiston ME

Not exactly sure what Mills is up to but I do know that we CAN NOT AFFORD anything that is going to raise our gas and oil prices at all. What do they think people will do if they Do Not have fair priced oil to heat their homes in the winter/Cold weather..