TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

Hello,
This is a TERRIBLE idea and one that I will NEVER support. This is ill conceived and will cause severe harm to Rhode Islanders. I am completely opposed to this tax and I oppose the people and the politicians who support it. We do NOT need another tax!

As a garden designer concentrating on environmental responsibility, I care about reducing pollution from transportation. I appreciate Governor Baker's ongoing leadership on the environment, and request that Massachusetts formally join the program.
I hope that decisionmakers choose the most aggressive greenhouse gas reduction target that the most recent climate science tells us we need. Our state's policy should prioritize clean energy investments in areas overburdened by pollution and/or for those who don’t have access to transportation choices.

As an Economist, having worked in the Energy and Environmental fields specifically for over a decade, I am well aware that mechanisms like the TCI are well-designed policies that have proven records of success. RGGI boasts reduced emissions as well as economic benefits for the regional participants. Transportation is the sector most in need of policy focus for emissions reductions, and we need every tool in our quiver to arrive at a zero-emissions future. The TCI is a necessary part of that progression. I strongly support the TCI as a citizen, an environmentalist, and as an economist.

I am writing to support strong carbon reducing measures in support of CTI goals. I believe there is a climate crisis. Within a few decades the earth will be a miserable place to live if we do not reduce greenhouse gas pollution and global warming. We are already experiencing more cloudy weather, stronger storms, and greater swings in temperature because of climate change.

In much of the northeastern United States transportation carbon emissions are the greatest source of greenhouse gasses. I urge you to take strong action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Some actions I suggest are: higher taxes on transportation fuels, especially gasoline and diesel, with the proceeds going to reduce emissions; Larger tax credits for purchasing electric vehicles; and property tax relief for anyone purchasing electric vehicles.

I appreciate the actions that have been taken in the past. These are good steps, but they do not go far enough to address the looming crisis. We should fight for the most aggressive greenhouse emissions cap possible. And this should include a cap that is significantly lower in 2030 than in 2022 or 2025, and much lower still in 2040 and should be at zero before 2050. There is little reason we could not achieve 90% reductions from year 2000 levels by 2040. Connecticut should formally sign on to the TCI.

Thank you for considering my comments. Please work to preserve our beautiful planet.

As a concerned citizen and CT taxpayer I want the state government to act on environmental pollution and support carbon neutral policies.

PLEASE 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, and complete the policy development process within one year after which each jurisdiction will decide whether to adopt and implement the policy.

As a resident of Massachusetts and a U.S. citizen who is extremely concerned about the challenge to survival climate change poses, I fully support and am excited by the Transportation and Climate Initiative, which I understand involves the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and the city of Washington, D.C.. We desperately need to modernize transportation systems and do so in a way that not only avoids making the environmental crisis worse, but actually helps to clean up the present "swamp."

To that end, governors of the states mentined and the mayor of Washington, D.C., must ensure that this transportation plan is bold enough to cut harmful transportation pollution at the scale needed to avert the climate crisis. We need a plan that holds large transportation polluters accountable for the pollution they create and invests in clean transportation solutions including:

More public transit and electric vehicle infrastructure in rural areas.
Expansion of commuter rail, electric vehicles, and streets in the suburbs that are safe, walkable, and bikeable.
Sustainable and equitable housing near transit and electric bus fleets in urban communities.

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Every state needs a comprehensive plan that will hold large transportation polluters accountable for the air quality they harm as well as invest in clean transportation solutions that must include: Public transit and electric vehicle infrastructure everywhere including in rural areas; Significant expansion of commuter rail, electric vehicles, and streets in the suburbs that are safe, walkable, and bikeable; Sustainable and equitable housing near transit and electric bus fleets in urban communities. We cannot afford to wait AT ALL as climate change is already upon us and we must do everything we can to mitigate the damage already done and that continues with our inaction.

In efforts to combat our climate crisis, I support more public transit and electric vehicle infrastructure in rural areas and the expansion of commuter rail, electric vehicles and streets in the suburbs that are safe, walkable, and bikeable. As well as sustainable and equitable housing near transit and electric bus fleets in urban suburban and rural communities.