TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

We are in Crisis. We must take every opportunity possible to bring our planet back to balance. I'm old enough to remember a clean Chesapeake Bay and where clean water was not something to worry about. Our future generations deserve more from us. For generations, we have been self-absorbed, greedy and negligent. We must wake up and make every possible change for the better. Fossil fuels must go now, not later - start to move away from them in big ways - like transportation. We must take care of this planet that sustains our very lives. It is insanity to do anything less. Do the right thing here. This is a good thing.

TCI Public Comment
Kevin Ellicks
2/26/20
As an environmental science student at Middlebury College, topics raised and discussed in class are often specific to Vermont and nearby areas. This semester, I am participating in a seminar concerning sustainable transportation in Vermont and its relation to accessibility, participation, and independence. Clearly then, the Transportation Climate Initiative is of particular relevance to my coursework.
The effects of climate change are becoming increasingly visible in Vermont and across the world. If the general population continues living out our lifestyles without enacting significant change, climate-related occurrences will only increase in severity and frequency. The Transportation Climate Initiative posits measures to reduce the pollution stemming from the transportation sector across the Upper South Atlantic, Mid Atlantic, and North Eastern states, more specifically, from Virginia to Maine. As the transportation sector accounts for 43% of carbon pollution in this TCI region, clearly efforts to reduce transportation pollution will coincidingly reduce carbon pollution. In that sense, I support the TCI’s initiative to address such a considerable contributor to pollution and climate change.
Given the current trajectory of climate change, the TCI is an important undertaking, yet it is far from a perfect plan of action. In the case of Vermont, a state with an extensive rural population, sustainable public transportation is often inaccessible or inconvenient to the point of irrelevance. Thus, much of the rural population of Vermont is left to its own devices to achieve mobility, which often leads to increased vehicle travel and carbon dioxide emissions. Coupled with the prevalence of poverty in rural Vermont, the increased cost of gasoline put forth by the TCI stands to leave low-income Vermonters unable to afford the gasoline that many rely on for transportation. This outcome must be avoided; therefore, the TCI must incorporate measures to ensure a just and equitable transition for impoverished Vermonters and those disproportionately affected by climate change, characteristics that are often in direct correlation to one another.
Prior to enacting the TCI, the Vermont government must ensure that rural populations will have access to transportation and that transportation will be increasingly sustainable to mitigate our current climate trajectory. As we strive to reduce vehicle miles travelled per person and emissions stemming from transportation, public transport must be made accessible to rural populations that are already disproportionately bearing the effects of climate change. Alternate modes of transport, like electric vehicles (EVs), allow a person to maintain their independence while also reducing polluting emissions. Incentives are in place to make EVs more obtainable, yet these incentives do not go far enough to make EVs available to Vermonters living in poverty.
The aspect of the TCI that I find most exciting is the potential for developing feedback loops that continually invest the profits generated from the TCI into sustainable transportation, leading to the continued decreasing of pollution from the transportation sector. The potential for an exponential process is encouraging as even initial small steps can snowball into a continued reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore, I recommend easing into the TCI to avoid jeopardizing the access of impoverished populations in Vermont to the gasoline that many have come to rely on for mobility via personal vehicles. If an abrupt transition to the TCI occurs, rural Vermonters that are unable to afford the increased prices stand to be isolated with no means of mobility, similar to the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.
Furthermore, those working to implement the TCI ought to take more measures to increase the accessibility of the document itself. Even if Vermonters are aware of the TCI and have access to related documents, the language of the TCI Memoriam of Understanding is dense and difficult to understand. The potential for storytelling and graphic representation as effective ways to communicate data is immense and can prove to be an effective means of garnering support for the TCI. As we watch states such as New Hampshire decline to participate in the TCI, it is imperative that efforts to increase public support are intensified.
The TCI represents a great opportunity to generate funding for increased accessibility to public transport, greater incentives for EVs to those that need more financial assistance, and the bettering of sustainable transportation infrastructure. It would be unjust to price rural populations out of purchasing the gasoline that many rely on, yet it would also be unjust to not enact change and continue to let rural communities bear the brunt of the impacts of climate change. Careful consideration of the impacts of the TCI, especially on rural populations, will allow for a just transition towards a more sustainable future.

I think it is very important to join regionally to make an effective, low-carbon, diverse policy. All of the areas involved are connected so any transportation planning should be done jointly to ensure it is as well integrated as it can be. I applaud the Transportation and Climate Initiative and look forward to seeing it implemented. Thank you.

I work at a small business in Belfast, Maine. We average about 200k miles per year on our fleet of vehicles to service our customers . Due to our geographical make-up, Maine is already at a competitive disadvantage with high cost of electricity and one of the highest overall tax rates in the Union.

We have limited public transportation which require most folks from Maine to commute via vehicle to and from work. In addition, we have to rely on our vehicles to purchase groceries, visit local clothing stores, transport our children to school events, etc.. This list goes on and on. We cannot simply park our vehicles and chose another mode of transportation.

To include Maine in this initiative will be catastrophic to our economy. As a small business we will be forced to pass this cost on to our Customers. They in turn will have less disposable income to fuel the economy in Maine. I cannot speak to how this will impact other states, but I suspect outside of the large cities (Which already have large participation rates in public transportation) the rural areas will be in a similar situation as many of us in Maine.

I hope common sense will prevail.

As the most rural state, we know that it will be difficult for most Mainers to drive less or switch to electric vehicles. For one, there’s no large used-electric-vehicle market.
We also know that people who rent their homes/apartments, as well as those on a fixed income, likely do not have the ability or the money to install equipment to charge electric vehicles overnight at home. This makes finding a place to charge their vehicle a daily burden, not just an occasional inconvenience.
Fully electric cars might be fine for quick trips around the city for people who can afford to install a charger in their home, but they are not ready for longer commutes in the cold on rural roads where fast chargers are not readily available.
The biggest challenge for is the winter. Batteries lose charge faster in our colder weather.
A recent Wall Street Journal video featured the many challenges of driving electric vehicles In her road-test from Detroit to the Canadian border, a Michigan reporter’s usual 10-hour round-trip TOOK 30 HOURS IN 25 DEGREE WEATHER.
She spent 19 HOURS CHARGING HER CAR on a trip about the same distance as Brunswick to Presque Isle and back. The cold not only drained the battery faster but also slowed recharging. Janet Mills is a Marxist POS and this gas tax is just a stupid idea as she is! She's a one term gov. at best! We are now seeking her removal through the off of the President of the Undited States!

In May of 2018 the price of a gallon of gasoline was $2.90. That year the economy grew by 3%. The stock market was booming and the great Recession was in the rear view mirror of most Americans.

It is now 2020 (an election year) and Phil Scott is reluctant to address climate change solutions. As he recently stated he was, “not looking to come out with something dramatic.”

According to VT. Digger, “Some Republicans have raised concerns about the 12-state Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI), and called its system of fuel pricing a ‘carbon tax.’ Under the agreement, which would include Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states, fuel prices could rise by as much as 17 cents per gallon.”

The Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) describes itself as a bi-partisan, “regional collaboration of 12 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia that seeks to improve transportation, develop the clean energy economy and reduce carbon emissions from the transportation sector. The participating states are: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.”

With all due respect Mr. Scott I’d be more than happy to pay $3 a gallon for gasoline if I knew that extra revenue was addressing long-term commitment to climate change initiatives. I suspect that many of the 76% of Vermonters who support real action on this vital issue might also be willing to tolerate this increase.

It wasn’t until gasoline went over $4 a gallon Vermont in 2011 that myself and many of my neighbors started changing our habits and to car pool and find alternatives to our gas guzzling ways. Good governance, in this instance, is about applying force on the market to encourage consumers to take climate change as the primary issue it is. What good is an affordable Vermont in a world that burns?

Vermont should be leading these 12 states not putting the brakes on real change and action.