TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

Here are my concerns about TCI:
1. Please consider investing TCI funds in clean energy, energy efficiency, and more robust public transportation. This would expand career opportunities, and better public transportation would make jobs more accessible. Lastly, clean transportation will improve the health of our region and lower our related healthcare costs by reducing air pollution from fossil fuel vehicles.

2. Please ensure that low and moderate income residents do not bear the financial burden, by distributing TCI funds to cover added energy expenses in a manner that corresponds with the timing of higher costs. Also provide TCI funding to rural residents to cover the added gasoline costs incurred from longer driving distances and from extremely limited public transportation options (e.g. Franklin County, MA, has no evening and weekend buses).

3. Please allocate TCI funds to public transportation, municipal energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, EV charging stations in rural areas and urban areas with rental properties, rebates for electric vehicles, including used EVs, and higher EV rebates for low-income residents, to make EVs more accessible to residents of all income levels.

4.Please consider Targeting TCI funding for the development of community solar for moderate and low income residents.

Thank you for your consideration and serious work on this critical issue of climate change in our region.

I am writing to express strong support for the Transportation and Climate Initiative and to urge the adoption of the strongest possible cap on transportation carbon emissions. The climate crisis demands that we take swift, strong action to decarbonize our economy, and with transportation now the number one source of greenhouse gases in the region and around the United States, we need to begin now. I further urge the adoption of a cap with the utmost of integrity. Cost-containment measures should not result in an increase in the overall emissions cap and the use of offsets should be strictly limited to ensure that the program achieves its main mission of promoting cleaner transportation in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Finally, allowance revenue generated under TCI should be reinvested so as to accelerate the transition to a cleaner transportation system. States should not be permitted to use allowance revenues to fill gaps in road spending or to facilitate highway construction.

With sea level rise, increases in extreme precipitation and other impacts of climate change already beginning to appear in our region, we have the opportunity to lead and provide other regions with a shining example of leadership. By adopting a strong regional cap with integrity, and investing revenue from the program into clean transportation services and technologies, the TCI states can demonstrate to the rest of the country and the rest of the world that decarbonizing the transportation sector is possible.

Attached please find Joint Comments from the Northeast Clean Energy Council, the Alliance for Clean Energy New York, and Renewable Energy Vermont

I'm asking you to 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]… to complete the policy development process within one year, after which each jurisdiction will decide whether to adopt and implement the policy.”

Massachusetts does better than many states in terms of environmental initiatives, but we are a long way from where we could be. We are working against a clock that seems to be accelerating (as is the climate crisis). We need to speed up our productive responses.

Climate scientists tell us that we do not have much time to significantly impact the carbon pollution that is accelerating climate change on the planet. The technology exists and is proven for the adoption of electric buses. We need to do this now.

If we want our planet to be a place for human beings can live healthy happy lives we must focus on reducing the effects of climate change. Transporting people and goods has a large effect on the Atmosphere and thus the Climate. Transportation is just part of the Climate Change problem. -
It will not take many feet of sea level rise to put vast areas of our country Florida, Cape Cod, New Orleans, Parts of Washington DC, Boston and NYC under water. If we expect to be a "great country" we must take intelligent steps to combat this problem.
And we must expect MANY REFUGEES from other nations that are under water or in some way in climate distress to enter our country demanding help. We must be ready to help.