TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

"AUGUSTA – Governor Janet Mills is negotiating a multi-state agreement that could sharply increase the cost of gasoline and diesel for Maine people, and Mainers should take the opportunity to weigh in with their comments, says a group that advocates for Maine’s taxpayers and consumers."

As the people in the State of Maine are already the 3rd highest taxed population in the nation, and because Maine's economy is still struggling (even after the tremendous advances made by Governor LePage) the last thing we need is an increase in taxes based on junk science about climate change! These political scares about the impending devastation of our planet have been circulating for more than 120 years, and they are no more credible now than they were back then.

I am against the disguised tax!

First, the government(s) should not be in the business of choosing winners and losers in the marketplace with the use of taxes, rebates, tax incentives, or any other artificial economic drivers. Let the marketplace function freely, and the most efficient and fair solutions will arise free of government interference, which has proven to be a poor substitute for the market time and time again.

Second, the need for infrastructure improvements and repairs (long lived assets) can be financed with long term bonds when we are in a very attractive borrowing cycle, but only if needed. This at least matches the asset life with the debt duration.

Third, Maine's budget is long on spending on "soft" programs to the detriment of hard spending. That reflects a fundamental difference that needs bi-partisan cooperation to solve, the likes of which we've not seen from Mills, Jackson, Gideon.

Fourth, Maine has some of the highest rates of overall taxation in the entire USA, while not representing any particular reason for that excessive spending. Perhaps Maine needs to review overall finances in a comprehensive manner.

Fifth, taxes should be direct, at the pump, and honest. This is neither. If you want to encourage conservative, a pump tax will have a subtle, direct effect. Not one I agree with, but it is honest.

I vote NO!

Please DO NOT bring Maine into the TCI plan! As a rural state, dependent on trucks, automobiles, and farm equipment to accomplish our daily work, raising the price of gasoline and other fuels will have an extremely destructive effect on our economy. It will increase the cost of food, heating, fishing, farming, tourist travel, making ice cream, ski lift tickets, heating schools, snow plowing, etc. as such the people will be doubly taxed. The resulting costs will raise local property taxes and the costs of maintaining streets and roads.
Keep decisions on Maine taxes and benefits under Maine voters’ control! DO NOT bring Maine into the TCI plan!

TCI is an important collaboration between eastern states to combat climate change. Some part of TCI revenue needs to be disbursed to EV infrastructure associated with affordable housing. It could be grants to afford housing developers for charging stations, grid tied or solar. There could be additional rebates toward EV purchases or leases for low income families; especially ones that are under served by public transportation or that live in affordable or low income housing.

Maine is already taxed by the state and federal government on Gas we don't need any more

Maine should use TCI as an opportunity to invest in local transportation solutions that help Maine people get to where they need to go in an affordable way that’s good for our environment.
Mainers deserve creative new choices and new investments to meet our transportation needs; the one thing we know is that pouring pollution into the atmosphere and sending our hard-earned money out of state for the oil that causes that pollution are NOT the way forward.
Maine needs an ambitious plan to reduce climate-changing transportation pollution,. Working together with neighboring states makes sense.
Maine can see significant economic, health, and environmental benefits by transitioning to cleaner and more efficient transportation options through adoption of TCI.

I support the TCI, the Transportation Climate Initiative. Why?
Because transportation accounts for 54% of Maine’s climate-changing pollution.

So, let’s clean it up with the TCI, and keep Maine moving forward with a quick
transition to green and clean transportation.

Thank you for this opportunity to speak up!

Below are suggestions regarding how the TCI can accelerate implementation of alternative fuel transportation and reduce GHGs related to traditional transportation (in no particular order):

- Re-allocate portions of funding from traditional road infrastructure projects toward high speed rail, commuter rail, and metro services
- Moratorium on building new gasoline/diesel fuel stations
- Require any new fuleing stations to offset their carbon footprint (including those of their fuel sales)
- Invest in DC Fast Charging stations (rather than level I or II EV infrastructure)
- Charging large transportation reliant businesses a carbon tax (Amazon uses next day delivery...they should have to pay the environmental cost of shipping)
- Offering large fleet reliant businesses incentives for fleet conversion (trucking industry, police, DOT, taxi, pizza delivery, schools, buses)
- Reduce need for single occupancy vehicles by investing in public transportation options in/around population centers without encouraging sprawl (no expansion to areas with low population densities as an example)
- Communities with higher populations of drivers (based on DMV registration data) could have larger % of cost burden for maintaining road infrastructure
- Auto-centric land use patterns should bare larger cost of transportation infrastructure costs (if a community chooses to sprawl, they will have to pay for infrastructure - no subsidizing sprawling land use patterns)
- reserve a larger portion of any carbon related "tax" for public transportation options (rail, EV infrastructure, electric buses, etc.)
- Move away from traditional paving and use recycled plastics as a way to reduce plastic waste and replace traditional petroleum based paving methods with those that re-use existing petroleum in plastics. (keep fossil fuels in the ground).
- All new transportation projects meet carbon sequestration goals associated with that particular project (for example - road projects would require a sequestration technique for every lane mile to offset usage, or expanding transit would need to procure energy from renewable sources, installation if EV infrastructure would require solar+storage or other emission reduction technique like tree planting)
- Lending interest rates for non-GHG reducing transportation projects would be higher
- support projects that reduce VMT

see also: https://www.gbnrtc.org/movingforward2050