TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

I am opposed to any increase in fuel taxes for any reason. This would place a heavy burden on rural Mainers while benefiting a chosen few. Elderly Mainers can not afford to keep increasing their costs to do business on a limited income.

The TCI is a bad deal for Vermont. Our state would have no control of distribution of funds. Most of rural Vermont, where I live and work, will be the hardest impacted with zero to no benefit from this program. We live in the shade of mountains where electric vehicles are not only not possible to use for our commutes, charging them is very expensive and still uses electricity that comes from sources generating carbon, and damming rivers which also affect our planet. Also, part of my living is derived from towing trailers - which I can't do with electric vehicles.

I live on the border of Massachusetts and New York. My husband works in Massachusetts. Part of my work has me travel to New York (to teach prisoners). Without a plan that treats every payer of this TAX with a return equally and directly, this is just another cash grab from urban areas from rural areas. This would damage my property values, hurt interstate commerce, and drive down tourism.

There is absolutely no good reason for Vermont to participate in this only to line the pockets of bigger states with higher populations and less demanding terrain.

Is Mills out of her mind or just evil? Does she have absolutely no awareness of what life is like for all of us who live in rural Maine? We already live on low incomes, and transportation is a must if we are going to be able to continue to work. One of my sons drives an hour to work and back each day, and another one of my sons has to drive all over the state. I drive a lot in my line of work as well. Transportation costs are already a hardship. I can't imagine how we'll survive with such a high gas tax! Many of us are living from paycheck to paycheck as it is. Someone please stop her from causing such irreparable damage to the people of Maine. She is a monster.

As a parent of two young children, a teacher and someone who relies on common sense and science to navigate the modern world, I take affront at politicians and other leaders not heading the calls of the planet to change how we live. We need to change our lifestyles and expectations to how much we can continue to take and not pay a painful price. Let us make logical decision now and when my boys are old enough they can become stewards themselves and engineer ways to mitigate the damage we have already done and build a sustainable economy and democracy for generations to come.

Great idea, and I am interested to stay in the loop. No particular knowledge in this area. I ride Amtrak regularly from Lancaster, PA, to Bridgeport, CT, via Philadelphia. Trains are often overcrowded, and driving is not pleasant. Think working from home wherever possible, as part of the solution.

The region needs to work on public awareness about local and global environmental issues, increase access to mass transportation, which should reach everyone despite location, be more reliable, fast, and affordable. Personal responsibility should be encouraged: walking, biking preferred to driving when possible, through the development of safe, bike friendly urban and suburban areas.

I strongly oppose being part of TCI. While Maine roads and infrastructure remain in embarrassing conditions, slamming Maine's poor and middle class workers with more taxes to fund nefarious and doubtful reductions in “carbon foot print” is an insult to the great, hard working people of Maine. I wish that Governor Mills would listen and respond to the opposition of “we the people”, instead of playing wild and free with our money!

We've all known since he early 1960s, that global warming/climate crisis endangers all life, including Homo Sapiens (the top of the food chain), on Earth. I wonder whether lack of December 8,1941 action, continuously, to address the issue, is Mass Murder, or Mass Suicide. We've also known, since the '60s, the solutions to this potential 6th Major Extinction. Everything we can do to cut out CO2 from burning fossil fuel, and the faster, before we reach the "Tipping Point" the better. Keep up the good work.

As a health professional-trainee, and concerned resident, I am submitting this commenting support of an aggressive carbon reduction schedule in regards to designing a low-carbon transportation policy. There are a multitude of benefits from adopting such a schedule for the involved states, including but not limited to, public health benefits from reducing gas burning for children, the elderly, and those with lung conditions - all of whom are among my patients, in lieu of upward trending (rather than downward trending) usage in the last decade. Furthermore, this policy change will enable the further development of electric car infrastructure, which will keep this region economically strong and vibrant in the near future and beyond. Strong rules are necessary to change our direction, and along with many of my peers and community members, I am in favor of this region taking active steps to formulate regulations that take us into a low-carbon future as fast as possible.