TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

The global warming has become a big change that is noticed all over the world! My family in Europe, completely agrees that each year it just keeps getting warmer and warmer. Random storms appear that never used to take place. It is scary how fast the changes are moving! We human kind caused it, and we must stop it before it is too late!!!

I am writing in support of the Transportation and Climate Initiative. As a resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, I am fortunate enough to have access to the Metro system, such as it is. But my area, and much of Maryland, is still overwhelmingly dependent on cars to get where we need to go. And while pervasive, inescapable traffic congestion prompts calls to expand 495, nearby communities do not want to face more noise, air pollution, and construction in service of what is ultimately an unsustainable trajectory for transportation in this region. We need better, cleaner options, and we need dedicated leadership from Maryland and other states in the region to imagine alternatives that will enhance mobility in the region while doing our part to address climate change.

As a life-long resident and daily public transit user, Maryland must make a firm commitment to adopt a regional transportation policy that achieves a minimum 40 percent reduction in transportation sector climate pollution by 2030, to keep us on track to meet the climate goals updated by the General Assembly in 2016. Investment and policy decisions should be made based on pollution reduction and equity goals, as well as robust engagement opportunities from the public‒particularly those most overburdened by transportation pollution and underserved by our current public transportation.

This cannot be allowed to happen in Maine.
This would devastate the poor and elderly in their ability to heat their homes!

The elderly have already been punished by this governor when she denied funding to Maine’s nursing homes. The youth, poor and elerly will suffer greatly with a gasoline tax, not those who can afford it, which only occupy the southern quarter of the state. Many travel over 30 miles to get prescriptions or groceries. Perhaps if we had 150 million savings in the bank still we could earmark some for energy, but Maine is a poor state with older Mainers making up the largest amount of the population. Maine is also the cleanest state, so this is a burden Mainers can't support over their own housing, food, heating fuel and medication. The governors’ total disregard for Mainers welfare and finances is alarming. We can't afford to be California, and neither can California.

February 27, 2020

Testimony to TCI by Mary Jo Maffei
Chair Carbon Pollution Fee and Rebate Group
TCI can be an important way to reduce emissions of transportation. I am glad there is an effort to do this through TCI. Whatever we do, though, has to be effective and based on science, has to be equitable and must require an honest assessment of the challenges ahead.
Integrity in the Process
The current proposals are described as cutting transportation emissions by between 20% and 25%. A quick look at supporting TCI documents shows that this analysis is based on a state’s business-as-usual transportation emissions that is expected to drop 19% over a decade. Thus, TCI will only contribute at most a 6% drop in emissions. In Massachusetts, where I live, transportation is 40% of emissions, so TCI will reduce total emissions by 2.4%. And these estimates are using the best or most rosy assumptions.
It is important that TCI be transparent and honest. In this era of misinformation and given the seriousness of the effects of climate change, we cannot afford to be less than honest with ourselves about the potential results of different efforts to address climate change.
Effectiveness
The TCI process must provide policy options that address science-based requirements for climate mitigation which limits global warming to 1.5C over pre-industrial levels. That will require emissions reductions around the globe and in Massachusetts on the order of 40% of current emissions levels per decade. The TCI process is only considering efforts to reduce transportation climate emissions by 1%, 3% or 6% over business-as-usual emissions reductions, over a decade. And we have no assurance at all that business-as-usual emissions reductions will be significant. I urge the TCI group to be more ambitious; we need to have much steeper emissions reductions if we are going to slow down the terrible effects of climate change.
Additionally, the Transportation Climate Initiative has assumed that this would be a cap program instead of a fee program. I believe this should be revisited. Fee programs are much less complicated than cap programs, much less expensive to run, more predictable, much easier to design for effectiveness, equity, and transparency. A market such as being proposed is also more likely to be open to fraud. I believe that a fee process is more honest and if this is coupled with payments to residents more acceptable.
Equity
The TCI process must assure that policy options that address transportation needs in each state are equitable for low-income communities, environmental justice communities and other disproportionately affected groups. Policies must address equity regarding access to public transportation, cost-effectiveness of public transportation, traffic congestion and its effects, the reduction of transportation climate emissions and related health impacts, impacts on access to new jobs, access to greener transportation options, and access to greener automobile technologies. TCI can’t leave these as decisions to be made on a state-by- state basis. TCI must include strong value statements about how equity will be created for low and moderate income residents and for vulnerable communities. Certainly direct investment in green infrastructure in low income communities is important. This money must be primarily used in projects that reduce CO2 pollution and only a small portion of it should be used for adaptation to climate change. I recommend at least 80% percent of the funds go to projects that reduce pollution. However, these projects will only help some low-income and middle income residents with a significant delay between when residents need to pay more for fossil fuel and when they receive benefits from these projects. The best way to protect low and moderate income individuals is to provide them with direct payments that for the vast majority of low income residents and for most moderate income residents are larger than their increase payments for fossil fuel.
We need to be honest about the magnitude of the problem, the effort needed to solve it and the impact that our policies are having. That TCI has created a consortium of states trying to act in concert to address climate emissions from transportation is laudable. Now you need to step up to the challenge and design effective and equitable policies to address it.
A regional carbon pollution program is an excellent idea, but for us to safeguard our children’s future it must be aggressive and happen rapidly. Thank you.
Mary Jo Maffei

The TCI is nothing but a Tax on working "BayStaters". To do this with an executive order shows how little regard the Baker-Polito regime has for the people of Massachusetts. People. Wake up. This is all done to fund the underfunded pensions. This will do nothing to reduce carbon emissions. Carbon emissions are already down 22% across the US. Go TCI the Chinese and the other real polluters. Charlie if you sign this into law you have lost my vote. Funny how all the pro TCI contributors are at the top, like they just posted today....Really?

Transportation is one of the largest sources of global warming emissions. We need to invest in reducing emissions and prioritize initiatives leading to clean solutions. I appreciate a bipartisan effort to move the country forward and curb transportation emissions.

Dear Governor Scott,
Please have VT join the Transportation and Climate Initiative. From what I read, we have more to gain by joining than not joining, especially since we will be benefiting financially from this effort. I hope you will agree that we need to take a stand, small state that we are, to start to do something to address our part in climate degradation. Your leadership sends a strong message to those in this state who do not pay attention to climate news, that we are ALL a part of whatever solution we devise. Please be a leader and guide us to do the right thing.
Thank you, Ann Vanneman