TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

I strongly oppose implementation of the TCI. It is legislation thru regulation. I have no interest or desire to have my taxes or cost of operating my automobile determine or controlled by regional bureaucrats. Any initiative that will result in increasing fuel costs to taxpayers ought to be undertaken directly by local and state elected officials who are ultimately accountable to the voters. Legislators who delegate to regulators or agency bureaucrats do so only to duck personal accountability and assure themselves (in their minds) of plausible deniability when it comes to assessing blame.

https://www.zermatt.ch/en/arrival/Autofrei-GEX-MTT/Zermatt-is-car-free

Zermatt Switzerland has been car free for ages. It is a good plan and could be implemented in Burlington for a good start. See link.
Deliveries are made with electric trucks and traffic is not allowed into the city that is not electric.

My name is Richard Butz, I’m a member of the Bristol, Vermont, Energy Committee, a Board member of Vermont Interfaith Power and Light (VTIPL), a Board member of Addison County River Watch Collaborative (ACRWC), a father and grandfather. I’m writing in strong support for Vermont’s participation in the Transportation Climate Initiative.

As a college professor (now retired as an assistant professor of engineering technology), I lectured on building and transportation systems and have been staying up on the environmental and technological aspects of those systems. To me the evidence is clear, while we’re in trouble regarding greenhouse gas emissions, the technology exists, right now, to address them. What’s missing are the will and financial resources. TCI will facilitate change in attitudes and provide funding to encourage sustainable practices while protecting low income vermonters through rebates and incentives. It will result in clean, good paying jobs as we make the necessary transitions.

As a member of the Bristol Energy Committee, I work to plan and implement ways our citizens can achieve the mobility they need, whether it involves frequent and convenient public transportation or finding ways to afford more efficient and affordable personal vehicles. We’ve already benefitted from weatherization programs that have been funded through monies received as a result of the two million dollars Vermont receives each year as part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Our Button-up and Window Dressers initiatives are local examples. TCI will function in a similar way to RGGI.

As a person of faith, a progressive church member and a Board member of Vermont Interfaith Power and Light, I advocate for TCI because it is a significant step in reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, critical to protecting Creation, something people of faith understand and are called to do. Last Thursday more than fifty members of VTIPL spent the day at the State House in Montpelier, meeting with our legislators to lobby for the first bill of the Global Climate Solutions Act. Imagine our joy when it passed the House with a large majority.

I know that transportation contributes 43% of Vermont’s greenhouse gas emissions, and if we are to make any progress in this regard we are going to have to invest in cleaner public transportation modes, particularly in rural locations where driving is a significant factor. As a long-term Prius owner I know how much less gasoline an efficient vehicle uses and its impact on my budget, something that needs to be made available to low income vermonters, and the funding from TCI would assist in that regard.

As a grandfather I fear for our kid’s future. The Fourth National Climate Assessment and the IPCC reports among countless others, make it clear that we have very little time to act. We know from our own experience that we are already experiencing erratic and destructive weather patterns, emergence of tick and mosquito born diseases that we never saw before, and we run the risk of losing our maple trees, having shorter ski seasons, degrading our beautiful streams, rivers and lakes, and the tourism that these resources support. In short, our way of life and the Vermont Brand may be lost. We can’t let that happen.

To be clear, I urge Vermont to join TCI!

Let the market place take a natural course. It is unfair to penalize the use of one product to subsidize another. Also electric and natural or propane vehicles are not paying a tax.

Massachusetts has been raising taxes with impunity and without any accountability every year. Your crippling taxes and restrictive policies do nothing to help reduce carbon emissions. This isn’t fair to the working people of Massachusetts or the businesses that give them jobs. If you want to reduce carbon emissions work on improving the commuter rails and other public transportation. How many tax raises were supposed to do that? Please stop extorting taxes. You are killing jobs!

It is vitally important to reduce pollution from transportation, which is our largest source of global warming emissions (regionally and nationally).

I request that New York state formally join the plan to reduce emissions.

I demand that the policy has a strong component of equity by prioritizing clean investments in areas overburdened by pollution and/or for those who don't have access.

Our transportation system is stuck in the dark ages. Traffic congestion from millions of cars and trucks are polluting our lungs and planet more than ever before. But as we enter this new decade, we have an opportunity modernize how we get from point A to point B. Request that your state formally join the plan to reduce emissions. We need a policy that has a strong component of equity by prioritizing clean investments in areas overburdened by pollution and/or for those who don't have access.

We need more options in public transportation if we are going to make progress in cutting automobile emissions. This means traditional buses and trains, but also safe walking and biking paths which connect residential ares to commercial areas. My research shows that it is VITAL for us to take drastic action to preserve our environment, and I hope you will be a leader in making this happen. Thank you!