TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

TCI is a once in a generation opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and raise much needed revenue to modernize our transportation system on a regional scale. Unreliable transit is taking time residents should be spending at work or with their families. Those without choices have to drive and the resulting traffic congestion is further damaging our environment, public health, and quality of life.

I am a proud young resident of Massachusetts. I have lived all across the Northeast, in Southern Vermont, Saratoga Springs, NY, and now Boston. Transportation has looked incredibly different for me in each place I've lived, from car travel to bus travel to walking to the oldest public transit system in the Northern Hemisphere. As the biggest source of emissions, transportation is a clear lever we have as a state to make huge changes while also bringing in capital for investing directly in our transit. I'm incredibly grateful to Governor Baker for his bold leadership and support regarding TCI, as it would provide a clear path towards both positioning Massachusetts as a forward thinking leader in the Northeast as well as in the United States on the whole. I respectfully urge Massachusetts to formally join the initiative and that we pursue the most aggressive greenhouse gas reduction targets. All the science tell us that we need this, for the good of our planet and in order for young people everywhere to hope for a livable future. I would also emphasize the importance that the policy prioritizes clean investment for communities that bear a disproportionate burden of accelerating pollution as well as for areas where people are unable to access public transportation, such as my extremely remote home state of Vermont where viable options are largely unavailable as well as in low income communities, the children of which have been found to have comparatively high levels of asthma (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2740858/). I know that a better future is possible, and I believe TCI is one of the best options we have to drive forward serious change. Thank you for your consideration.

The research for my recent book (Leave It in the Ground: The Politics of Coal and Climate, Praeger-ABCClio, 2019) convinced me the significant greenhouse gas reduction is unlikely to be achieved unless carbon polluters are made to pay the true cost of carbon. Cap and trade schemes where the polluters are given free allowances do not work. When polluters have to pay for permission to pollute they have an incentive to reduce that pollution. TCC is a strong step in this direction, and allows for the price to be adjusted as needed.

An important feature of TCI is that the funds generated must be spent on programs to reduce GHG emissions, and to help those who cannot afford to pay the increased costs passed along to them by the polluters. There should be strict rules about this to assure that the money is not diverted to general budgetary relief for the participating states.

Finally, since the opponents of this program are calling it a "gas tax," I want to point out that it is not a tax; it is an assessment of the true costs of pollution, to be paid by the polluters.

The impact of carbon emissions and greenhouse gases in our atmosphere is causing a plethora of human health and environmental problems to OUR Earth. TCI can alleviate many of these stressors. Leaders should choose the best option to target greenhouse gas emissions, and TCI is the only option. This is especially important for areas that do not have transportation access.

I have lived directly next to the Mass Pike for the past 4 years. Over that time my roommates and I have all noticed worsening asthma, worse allergies, and have been getting sick more frequently. Meanwhile, we live 4 miles from downtown Boston and it can still take an hour or more to get there on our failing public transit system. We cannot keep supporting a transportation system that is making us sick and slowing us down.

TCI could be an huge game changer for Massachusetts to reduce emissions and invest in a modern transit system that doesn’t leave people behind. Climate change isn’t slowing down and we don’t have time to wait. Even Republican Governor Charlie Baker sees the huge potential in TCI for his state both economically and environmentally. Pollution has been a market externality for far too long and it’s time to account for the harm it is causing to the planet and our communities.

The transportation sector continues to be one of the highest sources of carbon emissions in the state. Climate scientists are clear that we need radical change to keep the worst of the climate crisis at bay. We need TCI to reduce transportation emissions and use the money it makes to invest in areas overburdened by pollution and lacking access to transportation options.

Our transportation status is on a crash course with the climate, the public's health (tailpipe pollution, asthma, respiratory ailments and cardiac disease, and more). Our health systems are working to reduce their carbon footprints of our hospitals, fleet vehicles,
and employee commutes, but we need the support of strong policies to drive systematic progress. We appreciate the work being done by participating states to create a regional policy to rapidly reduce transportation emissions to protect the health of the communities we serve.
Funds raised by the program should be invested in ways that protect health, advance health
equity, and support health care climate resilience. As our hospitals advance clean
transportation goals, our patients and communities would greatly benefit from TCI being implemented regionally.
It is critical that as states consider how to invest the proceeds from this program, frontline and low-income
communities should be prioritized to benefit from those investments given the historical health
burden they have experienced from pollution. We urgently need a bold regional vision, TCI Now.

We can cut poverty and pollution at the same time. We urge you to move forward with a regional program that prioritizes the needs of communities overburdened with pollution and underserved in mobility options.

Attached is a slide deck to accompany Green For All's "Designing an Equitable Cap-and-Invest Policy for Transportation" toolkit.

Given the grave challenge of climate change that we have been facing, it is absolutely imperative that we adopt the necessary mandates to do what's necessary to save our people and our planet. TCI can be a critical step on the path to more expansive carbon pricing mechanisms, so TCI has my full support, as well as the support of our communities, to be implemented. We need to think about the long-term arc of our society - in terms of public health, transportation, and environment - and carbon pricing is the most effective way of shaping a stronger future for our children. Let us not forget that TCI idealizes sustainable development, by improving the environment with the benefit of economic growth. Those that oppose TCI fail to understand how it gives us the chance of not only rectifying persevering injustices, but also positively and meaningfully reaping substantial benefits for all our communities. I'd like to call upon the governors of ALL the states to commit to TCI, in the best interests for their constituents. But more importantly, I'd like to wholeheartedly urge the leaders of TCI to clearly communicate the impressive possibilities of such a program, in a way that creates the broad support needed to successfully advance climate change policy.