TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

In so much as transportation is responsible for our greatest load of CO2 into the greenhouse gas system, this seems like a no brainer.
Please support his well thought out plan.

I strongly support this initiative, and urge the working group to consider high-speed rail between Albany and NYC.

Thanks for making the effort to create a regional system that uses the market. (1) Strengthen your goals, if market changes is going to create a 19% drop in emissions then the CTI effort should be more robust than 20, 22, and 24% reduction goals. We can and MUST do better, a minimal increase in fuel price must result to drive behavior change and the current models/suggestions of $0.25 are not going to do it. (2) All fossil fuels for transportation should be taxed, including liquified natural gas, this is a climate initiative after all and switching from petroleum to gas does not improve the climate. (3) Assess ethanol as well. Nothing about ethanol is sustainable as it is derived from corn which is a fossil fuel intensive crop. (4) Invest heavily in electrification and increased access of mass transit - that to be effective must also dissuade people from using cars and increase density of our living situations. Thanks, Sue Hughes-Smith Adjunct Professor of Environmental Health at SUNY Brockport and Environmental Studies at R.I.T.

My wife and I live almost half the year in East Bootbay, ME. We have been witnesses to the environmental degradation of that region for over 45 years. Much of that has been from dense automobile traffic. Anything that would improve public transportation to a level that would shift travel from individual cars to collective transport would be helpful. We support this effort to make a difference.

I recently became aware of the Transportation and Climate Initiative and am writing to you to voice my thanks and support for our continued participation. Climate change is an extremely urgent matter that we must act on immediately to stop and try to reverse. Reducing vehicle pollution is a key element of any greenhouse gas reduction strategy.

I thank you, Governor Baker, for your leadership on climate change. I heard you on Boston Public Radio today and believe you are a champion on fighting for our climate.

We must aggressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the commonwealth. Rush hour traffic in our area adds to pollution as thousands of cars creep through our town on their clogged commutes. Expansion of public transportation in communities like mine that are outside the MBTA bus and train routes would be a great help. Increased incentives for electric vehicles and investment in infrastructure to increase the availability of vehicle charging stations would be very helpful as well.

Thank you,
Nicola Payne
Sudbury, MA

Thank you for your thoughtful initial framework for TCI.

I strongly support the equity and environmental justice aspects of this proposal because of the disproportionate impact that fossil fuel burning has on minority, lower income, and rural communities.

Living in Franklin County, MA, a rural region with a great deal of poverty, I would like to see Massachusetts think broadly and with specifics about how to use the TCI funds to increase access to affordable and viable public transportation to rural and low-income residents. For example, our county needs additional and more affordable public transportation to make it possible for people without cars to get to places of employment throughout the week, for night shifts, and on weekends. People in communities without a commercial district also need the ability to get to food shopping, get to medical facilities, etc. with some sort of public transit. Current public transportation here is extremely limited. Perhaps TCI would expand funds for a pilot program in the county--service on demand in small vehicles rather than buses. As our county's population ages, expanded public transportation will be that much more essential.

Thinking outside the box, TCI funds could be used to increase accessibility and expand equity to underserved rural populations by funding the full buildout of broadband. Reliable and up-to-date Internet service could help residents with applying for jobs, professional development, telecommuniting, accessing educational resources and online classes, and accessing support systems and medical professionals, without the need for transportation. Some of our communities and portions of them do not have broadband Internet access; rather they have only satellite or antiquated dial-up connections. This puts these residents at a significant disadvantage.

Lastly, these funds should be used primarily to reverse our greenhouse gases, not for adaptations to the impacts of climate change. We are in a race against time to reverse the devasting affects of climate change, and we must reach beyond the modest climate goals manadated by the Global Warming Solutions Act to avoid the disasterous predictions in the latest IPCC report.

Thank you for considering these comments as you look at finalizing the TCI design.

It is easy to see that rail travel is the future of transportation, as it is the greenest and most efficient form of travel. Having an extensive high or higher speed rail network throughout the east coast is absolutely critical to a sustainable future. This also means making sure the majority of the network is electrified with overhead catenaries, and powered by renewable energy. As a volunteer at the Train Campaign in Western Mass, we are trying to bring rail travel to a region that currently relies heavily on cars as a primary mode of transport. Here is a link to an op-ed that I wrote on the topic, and is very relevant to extending the rail network across MA, CT, and NY.

https://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/letter-make-views-known-on-berkshire-rail-plans,575360?

The Transportation and Climate Initiative is already an impressive feat in terms of environmental action. The independent organization and union of so many states and stakeholders to address this critical issue sets a commendable example to the rest of the country and demonstrates that we need to act. Transportation is a particularly impactful area with regard to energy use (especially fossil fuel consumption) and also environmental justice. Mobility allows people to not only meet their basic needs but also to access economic opportunities, and with lower-income individuals tending to not have access to personal cars, good public transit is necessary to ensure equitable access to jobs and resources.1,2 Fortunately, the TCI already “recognize[s] and [commits] to investing in and mitigating the impacts on low-income and disadvantaged communities.” The initiative receives my support so long as it makes concerted efforts in the following areas to ensure just outcomes.

Firstly, the cap and invest strategy proposed to bring down emissions and finance the transition to cleaner options needs to protect low-income consumers from gas price increases. In many cap programs, the cost of buying emissions allowances gets passed down to the consumer who ultimately uses the energy source, and this disproportionately impacts lower-income populations.3 Consumers can be shielded from the impact of these added costs through state programs, which can either aid individuals and households in lowering gasoline consumption or provide financial assistance to those with trouble affording their expenses. Rebates and subsidies present more traditional methods, while climate credits are a newer solution; in essence, part of the revenue generated from the sale of emissions allowances returns to consumers to offset the cap costs.3

Secondly, the TCI projects, through this transition to cleaner transportation, a “modest” increase in jobs. Perhaps this isn’t a main benefit of the program, but low-income communities should be given preferential access to these opportunities. Clean energy jobs in particular provide a substantial economic boost to people of lower income brackets: the poverty rates for people who have not completed college or high school are higher than for those who have;4 however, people without higher education can still access these jobs and even make more money than in other jobs for which they would be sufficiently educationally qualified.5 While this would be a more indirect equity outcome of the TCI, it is an important contribution to the upliftment of vulnerable communities and a way to guarantee that they benefit from this initiative.

Addressing climate change is a critical task and by no means an easy one, especially given the wide array of problems to be solved. Given its hefty role in emissions and in our daily lives, transportation is a key place to initiate the shift to cleaner energy. However, in setting a cap on fuel use, the TCI cannot further burden low-income communities. So long as this program fights to uplift vulnerable populations and actively include them in the transition to sustainability, it has my full support.


References
1: White, G.B. (2015, May 26). Stranded: How America’s failing public transportation increases inequality. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/stranded-how-americas-failing-public-transportation-increases-inequality/393419/.
2: Sanchez, T.W., Brenman, M., Ma, J.S., & Stolz, R.H. (2018). What is transportation equity? In The right to transportation: Moving to equity (pp. 7-11). Routledge.
3: Aldersebaes, J. (2016, Aug 8). Environmental justice wins with California cap-and-trade. Triple Pundit. https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2016/environmental-justice-wins-california-cap-and-trade/23946.
4: UC Davis Center for Poverty Research. (n.d.). How does level of education relate to poverty? [Graphs]. Retrieved February 27, 2020, from https://poverty.ucdavis.edu/faq/how-does-level-education-relate-poverty.
5: Marcacci, S. (2019, Apr 22). Renewable energy job boom creates economic opportunity as coal industry slumps. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/energyinnovation/2019/04/22/renewable-energy-job-boom-creating-economic-opportunity-as-coal-industry-slumps/#60a1997a3665.