TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

We must decongest our streets and detoxify our air. Our cities need more public transportation options. Most people in cities shouldn't have to need a personal vehicle.

Transportation is the largest source of pollution in the Northeast region, comprising more than 40 percent of total regional global warming emissions. In addition to the health impacts associated with rising temperatures, soot and ground-level ozone from the region’s cars
and trucks are responsible for more than 50,000 asthma attacks, 1,000 deaths, and other pollution-related illnesses that incur approximately $27 billion in total health care costs every year. The health impacts of transportation affect all of us, but especially vulnerable are children, the elderly, the chronically ill, and people in low-income communities. Our transportation system is also expensive. More than
15 percent of US household income goes toward purchasing, fueling, and maintaining personal vehicles, making it the second-largest household expense behind housing. What we need and can achieve is a transportation system in which a shared network of electric vehicles, working in concert with a first-class public transportation system, gets everybody where they need to go without burning a gallon of gasoline or wasting time in traffic. A transportation system that doesn’t contribute to air pollution or climate change, and isn’t vulnerable to the volatile swings of oil prices. It will require cooperation between local, state, regional, and federal governments, and between government and the private sector. And most importantly, it will require policy leaders to identify and prioritize new sources of funding for clean transportation priorities. If everyone works together, it can be achieved. Some may need to make sacrifices and that is never easy.

A better mass transportation system is needed to replace cars and planes for travel, business or pleasure, for short distances of up to 500 miles.

I am delighted to learn that the Transportation and Climate Initiative is moving forward here in the northeastern United States, and I request that Pennsylvania be not just a participant, but a leader in enacting scientifically sound, well-thought-out policies. Please further ensure that the communities and areas that have historically been burdened with the worst impacts from the transportation sector receive the greatest relief under this proposed framework. I am doing my part, driving a 100% electric vehicle and purchasing all of my household power from a Green-e Energy certified electricity supplier; let's develop the best framework to encourage *everyone* in the region to make choices that safeguard a healthy climate for all of us over the long term.

Global climate change is very real.

As an older person, as someone with a formal biology background, and as someone who spends a lot of time outdoors, I see the impacts of these changes all around me - even here in relatively safe Pennsylvania. And, as an older person, I still feel a deep sense of disgust at the tobacco industry's infamous tactic of muddying the waters over the obvious health impacts of smoking in order to protect profits for as long as possible, while ignoring the very real and very devastating impacts on millions of individuals and families. Climate change has seen the very same approach by the fossil fuel industry for the same reasons, and our politicians, once again, have, whether enthusiastically or tacitly, gone along with these blatant lies, accepting the very real consequences that too many are experiencing firsthand.

Transportation is one of the major sources of harmful emissions pushing climate change. Transportation is also an excellent way for multiple states along with politicians of all stripes, scientists, and civic planners to find creative, effective ways to reduce these emissions. It is also important to recognize that waste products, which these emissions are, are costly to produce. Creatively reducing waste can reduce costs.

Having Pennsylvania join this effort and reap its benefits would be wonderful, so I trust our officials will take a leadership position in bringing this to fruition. As a state (commonwealth), we should have policies that emphasize and prioritize investments in clean and sustainable energy alternatives. And we should prioritize clean, sustainable, cost-effective mass transit across the entire state - something we desperately need.

By contrast, ignoring science, and ignoring the potential economic benefits, the Trump Administration has aggressively moved the United States backwards in the clean energy pursuit. The idea that states will work together to equally aggressively push forward to a better world for all our grandchildren is very appealing.

I strongly support the Transportation and Climate Initiative. It is important that regions begin to work together to put caps on emissions and to look forward in order to develop new ways to move around the region. I would hope that some of the money from additional taxes would be used to develop better public transportation alternatives in rural areas of PA.

“I am grateful you are focusing on this vital issue. I believe that we can cut poverty and pollution at the same time. I urge you to move forward with a regional program that prioritizes the needs of communities who are the most affected and have the least voice and are overburdened with pollution. I know you wouldn't want unhealthy conditions for your family and neither does anyone else. Thank you for being a wise, caring and strong leader to deal with this.”

Transportation is the largest source of air pollution in the region, and we need to build a modern, clean, safe, and accessible transportation system for the 21st century. The more we limit pollution from motor fuels, the more jobs we create, the more the economy grows, the healthier our air becomes, and the more lives we save. Pennsylvania should join TCI to fund better transportation infrastructure, reduce traffic, and make my community a cleaner, safer place to live.