TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

"As a resident of Pennsylvania I urge the northeast states to adopt a strong TCI program that cuts transportation emissions in order to meet our state's climate goals. The program should invest in public transportation, safe biking and walking infrastructure, and prioritize communities who have suffered disproportionate impacts from transportation pollution."

Reducing pollution from transportation is a key component to reducing Pennsylvania's emissions. Public transit investments that could be made with TCI proceeds would be valuable. Please choose the aggressive greenhouse gas reduction target that the most recent climate science tells us we need. Policy should prioritize clean investments in areas overburdened by pollution and/or for those who don’t have access to transportation choices.

Too many of our public buses and trains run on dirty energy and contribute to air pollution and climate change. Many trains, buses, and stations haven’t been retrofitted in decades. For many people in rural parts of our states, there are zero viable public transportation options, which forces them to drive.

By making polluters pay and creating a dedicated source of funding through TCI, we’ll finally be able to move our state to a 21st-century regional transportation system that is cleaner, more reliable, more accessible, and more affordable. We’ll see less traffic, thousands of new jobs, and less dangerous air pollution. All communities — whether urban, suburban, or rural — will benefit.

Our air is making too many of us sick — and if history is a guide, it’s not going to get better on its own. We need to take bold and concerted action to reduce the carbon impact of our transportation system, and TCI’s combination of using pricing policies that discourage polluters and modernizing our public transportation system will do exactly that.

IT IS SHAMEFUL THAT PENNSYLVANIA IS AT THE TOP OF POLLUTING STATES IN THE U.S.! I THINK WE'RE #3, BUT WITH A LITTLE MORE EFFORT, GOVERNOR WOLF AND OTHER POLITICIANS CAN PUSH US UP TO #1 - AND IT SEEMS THEY'RE TRYING TO DO THIS!

On behalf of Environment America, I am submitting the attached comments from 1,834 of our members and supporters across the jurisdictions considering this regional climate policy.

The Transportation and Climate Initiative is an opportunity for the region to reduce fossil fuel emissions and invest in clean transportation, like electric cars and buses, charging infrastructure, sidewalks/bike lanes, and regional rail.
We urge you to move forward with TCI and require that the revenue generated by the program is used to expand clean transportation. There are simply too many cars on the road contributing to our warming climate, not to mention our asthma rates and traffic congestion problems.
In particular, we’d like TCI funds to go towards zero-emission electric buses, EV charging infrastructure, expanded and improved bike lanes and regional rail, as well as tax rebates toward private EV ownership.

Too many of our public buses and trains run on dirty energy and contribute to air pollution and climate change. Many trains, buses, and stations haven’t been retrofitted in decades. For many people in rural parts of our states, there are zero viable public transportation options, which forces them to drive. 
By making polluters pay and creating a dedicated source of funding through TCI, we’ll finally be able to move our state to a 21st-century regional transportation system that is cleaner, more reliable, more accessible, and more affordable. We’ll see less traffic, thousands of new jobs, and less dangerous air pollution. All communities — whether urban, suburban, or rural — will benefit.
Our air is making too many of us sick — and if history is a guide, it’s not going to get better on its own. We need to take bold and concerted action to reduce the carbon impact of our transportation system, and TCI’s combination of using pricing policies that discourage polluters and modernizing our public transportation system will do exactly that.

CLIMATE CHANGE IS SERIOUS andOUR AIR IS MAKING US SICK. Among other things, we need a regional policy for low-carbon transportation.
Reducing pollution from transportation is a key component in reducing Pennsylvania's emissions. Public transit investments, that could be made with the Transportation & Climate Initiative (TCI) proceeds, would be very valuable.
PLEASE CHOOSE THE AGGRESSIVE GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION TARGET THAT THE MOST RECENT CLIMATE SCIENCE TELLS US WE NEED!

This Cap and Trade just penalizes the poor by not only increasing their heating costs and transportations costs but also their energy costs as a whole.
There was a town in Texas (Georgetown) that went to complete renewable energy and the residents electric bills went up to astronomical rates.
Our electric utilities are already wanting their rate payers to fund the cost of building EV charging stations when there are not many people who will use them. Electric cars create a carbon footprint also. There have been studies done.

As far as switching cars to electric you are just switching one form of carbon for another. Power companies are not grabbing lightning bolts out of the air for your electricity. The more electric used the more carbon they will produce. Renewable energy is not able to replace the amount of energy we use.
You would be far better off getting people to use public transit. Penalize people for driving huge non efficient vehicles. Invest in renewable energy to help supplement other sources of power.

Transportation is the number one source of climate pollution in the United States. That means we must totally reimagine the way that we transport people and goods.

All of us must ensure that any transportation plan is bold enough to cut harmful transportation pollution at the scale needed to avert the climate crisis. We need a plan that holds large transportation polluters accountable for the pollution they create and invests in clean transportation solutions including:

-- More public transit and electric vehicle infrastructure in rural areas
-- Expansion of commuter rail, electric vehicles, and streets in the suburbs that are safe, walkable, and bikeable
-- Sustainable and equitable housing near transit and electric bus fleets in urban communities

Please support this initiative to modern our transportation system.

Thank you.

Obviously a huge problem and the solution will only come from government. Please act as quickly as possible.