TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

As a mother of two teens and resident of this beautiful state, I am concerned about the climate crisis, our future, my children's future and future generation’s futures. To this end, I urge Vermont to participate in the Transportation and Climate Initiative so that all Vermonters, including my kids, live in a world where they do not have to choose between being able to get where they need to go and polluting the planet irreparably.

We have a shrinking window of opportunity here. If we continue to drag our feet and take baby steps we will miss the mark and change the planet irreparably. Now is the time to take bold action. Choosing to support the TCI is one way we can act.

Vermont, like other states, desperately needs additional funding to create innovative, equitable transportation options for all, including seniors, people with disabilities, people with low incomes, for whom transportation costs and accessibility are an added burden, children, residents and visitors alike to our great state. TCI can provide this support.

As an individual who loves to recreate outside I see the high need to preserve the beauty and fresh air, biodiversity and wildlife, and make our state more accessible. We might be a rural state, but that is no excuse for expecting people to rely solely on personal vehicles, which are costly to operate and have limitations for many, in addition to being high polluters.

As you know, Vermont’s participation in a cap and invest program is not new. Under Governor Jim Douglas, Vermont joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in 2008. This cap and invest program covers the electric sector in the Northeast, and it has proven very successful, reducing consumer costs and carbon pollution from the power sector by 40%.

Vermont has strategically invested the revenues raised from RGGI, directing the $2 million annually into weatherization programs that help Vermonters stop wasting energy and save money. We know this type of project works — there is no excuse not to adopt TCI as well.
TCI provides the opportunity to tackle the biggest problem of our day — the climate crisis — by reducing emissions in our state’s most carbon-intensive sector, while diverting funds into much-needed transportation infrastructure that will benefit all.

We can either seize this opportunity to make monumental progress and have a chance to prosper in a clean energy future, or accept a status quo that is only becoming more and more difficult for Vermonters and more harmful to our environment.

I urge Vermont to formally join TCI so we can create a clean energy future that works better for everyone, especially our most vulnerable. Thank you for the work you’ve done so far to advance TCI across the region.

As a concerned citizen I urge all leader and legislators to take strong and immediate actions to battle Climate Change. The TCI is one step toward making our planet a more livable space for us and generations to come.

I support the TCI and hope that Vermont will participate fully. I recognize that rural states face challenges in achieving cleaner transportation, but we need to keep moving in that direction, and adding a modest charge to our carbon fuels is essential. We need to do this both to incentivize reductions in consumption and also fund clean alternatives. I know there will be howls of protest, but let me point out that these same voices are silent when market forces push fuel prices up, often by amounts greater than those proposed for TCI. Let's build into the price of our fuels an increment that will not go to out-of-state corporate profits, but instead fund important changes to our transportation system.

It's about time we support a bill like the TCI. Vermont's emissions have increased 16% above 1990 levels. Stop this now!

I believe I am in favor of Vermont participating. I think the downsides have been overblown, and , in my opinion , fossil fuels are so cheap that peope are not really taking conservation seriously. I make a living selling insulation so I'd like to think I understand what does (or doesn't) motivate consumers to behave responsibly

Through my work at 350 Vermont, with the Vermont Wilderness School, and as a parent of young children, I am committed to cleaner transportation future for Vermont. Vermont’s largest source of carbon pollution comes from the transportation sector, accounting for 44% of Vermont’s climate pollution. That is unacceptable.

I urge Vermont to participate in the Transportation and Climate Initiative so that all Vermonters, including my young children, live in a world where they do not have to choose between being able to get where they need to go and polluting the planet irreparably.

Vermont, like other states, desperately needs additional funding to create innovative, equitable transportation options for all, including seniors/people with disabilities/people with low incomes, for whom transportation costs and accessibility are an added burden. TCI can provide this support.

As someone who works with rural Vermonters, I see the extreme need for increased accessibility. We might be a rural state, but that is no excuse for expecting people to rely solely on personal vehicles, which are costly to operate and have limitations for many, in addition to being high polluters. A lack of reliable transportation options can have a negative effect on entire rural towns.

As you know, Vermont’s participation in a cap and invest program is not new. Under Governor Jim Douglas, Vermont joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in 2008. This cap and invest program covers the electric sector in the Northeast, and it has proven very successful, reducing consumer costs and carbon pollution from the power sector by 40%.

Vermont has strategically invested the revenues raised from RGGI, directing the $2 million annually into weatherization programs that help Vermonters stop wasting energy and save money. We know this type of project works — there is no excuse not to adopt TCI as well.

TCI provides the opportunity to tackle the biggest problem of our day — climate change — by reducing emissions in our state’s most carbon-intensive sector, while diverting funds into much-needed transportation infrastructure that will benefit all.

We can either seize this opportunity to make monumental progress and have a chance to prosper in a clean energy future, or accept a status quo that is only becoming more and more difficult for Vermonters and more harmful to our environment.

I urge Vermont to formally join TCI so we can create a clean energy future that works better for everyone, especially our most vulnerable. Thank you for the work you’ve done so far to advance TCI across the region.

I attended one of the information meetings on the TCI that was held in Manchester, VT. It makes so much sense to me that we join forces with other states (following the example of REGGI) to make sure that we can make a serious impact on addressing the major contributor of our carbon footprint. No plan is perfect, but we mustn't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. At this critical juncture, without a plan at all, we would be signing away this planet's future. I refuse to do that to my children. Or anyone else's.

I don't pretend to know all the ins and outs of the TCI, but from what I have read about it, the benefits for Vermonters (especially low income and rural Vermonters) and benefits for the climate and our environment, far outweigh any risks. We are in a dire situation with the climate crisis, and we need to take innovative steps to prevent the worst case scenarios. The TCI seems to be a win-win initiative, joining other states in the region to bring revenue into our state to better enable us to take actions that will significantly decrease carbon emissions from the transportation sector. We must join this initiative! Otherwise, we have missed an important opportunity. Thank you.

As a resident of Vermont I would like to see our state participate in the TCI. As a regional force we can contribute in a more meaningful way to the needed changes to our transportation infrastructure. Regional change will also help advance the needed behavior shifts around transportation in New England. I believe that TCI will bring Vermont financial and environmental savings. TCI will stimulate new and future oriented jobs in the transportation sector. TCI will begin to help all states in the region curb the greenhouse gas emissions from our most challenging source of carbon pollution: transportation. I urge governor Scott to commit Vermont to this program in fulfillment of his pledge to take real and actionable steps towards reducing the carbon output of our state. Solving this global crisis will take cooperation. I would like our state leaders to be a force for this type of collaboration towards a sustainable future especially in light of the challenging national politics on this issue. Please join TCI.
Respectfully,
Jillian Joyce