TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

As a psychologist working primarily with the next generation, I know firsthand young people's significant concerns about the health of our planet. For that reason and in view of my longstanding climate justice activism, I urge Vermont to participate in the Transportation and Climate Initiative. I shudder to think what accrual of environmental degradation is required for us to face the reality that this is a pivotal moment in our history - we need to act decisively now. Volunteers with 350VT and other climate justice organizatons are working steadily to address the challenge of transportation, our most carbon intensive sector, and TCI provides an excellent structure for reducing emissions while providing funding for a transportation infrastructure that reflects the need for a radical reduction in greenhouse gasses. Let's do it in a big way!

Governor Scott should join the Transportation and Climate Initiative. Vermonters will end up paying whether or not we join the program, and there's a good chance if the state does join that we will end up receiving back more for investment than we put into it. The governor could use the proceeds from it to help low income Vermonters. We're in the midst of a climate emergency. We need to do everything we can to reduce carbon pollution, and the TCI will lead to a 25% reduction in transportation emissions by 2032 - not enough but certainly a step in the right direction.

Even if I have to pay a little more for fuel to get our carbon release down & eventually eliminated i will do that. It's one of those deals where PAY NOW OR PAY LATTER so it must be done. If I have to reduce my transport to fewer trips I'll do it!
In the end, even though no one wants to say it we will all need to get by with less.
MOTHER EARTH SAYS NOW YOU MUST PAY FOR ALL THE YEARS OF TAKING & GIVING LITTLE.

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.