TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

This new tax is a disaster for Maine rural citizens. Maine is not a rich state. People that commute to work generally can not afford electric cars and should not have to pay to subsidize those who can afford them.

The last thing we need are higher gas/diesel prices, especially on something that provides heat and transportation to the Mainers.

I am opposed to this gas tax increase. Mainers cannot afford this!!!!!! I also doubt that sending this in will do any good because Janet Mills only does what her agenda is, in spite of many Mainers opposing it.

Pay now or pay much more later!! Our region is warming at an alarming rate (Sept. was the hottest month on record). We must do ALL we can to mitigate the effects of climate change the impact of which is becoming more and more dire. If it means some sacrifice on all our parts, it is worth it. Please implement the TCI recommendations.

I am concerned about the cost of this initiative and would like to know the expected cost increase to a gallon of gasoline. I would also like to be informed of any future public meetings in NY regarding this issue.
Thank you.

My name is Rick Bologna, I own and operate Westmore Fuel Co., Inc. in Greenwich, CT. We are a multi-generational family owned business that was established 81 years ago.

I currently am the Vice President and have been with Westmore Fuel Co., Inc. for the last 29 years.

I am submitting comments for you to consider as a resident and taxpayer in Connecticut to express my concern about the potential that a cap and trade program will have on our customers, employees, business and the environment.

The plan seems to be geared toward converting millions of gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs).

While EVs may be an apparently attractive way to lower emissions, we urge that greater consideration needs to be given to a number of factors that will have an impact on jobs, the economy, property values, electric reliability, emissions and family-owned businesses.

Please consider the following points and recommendations so that they can be incorporated into the final draft of the TCI:

• With the goal of putting million’s EVs on the road, TCI should have ISO New England and the other grid operators fully evaluate the impact that this would have on the electric grid. An article published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) indicates that one EV can consume as much electricity as a home does. And as noted, we need to double power generation to meet the state’s carbon goals, an unlikely feat that will result only in supply shortages. The unintended consequence of the government heedlessly jumping onto the EV bandwagon will be rolling blackouts, with power loss to critical infrastructure such as schools, businesses, emergency responders, hospitals and nursing homes.

• The ISO’s should add to their evaluation the impact of state policies promoting electric heat pumps on the electric grid, which could require an additional 17 million MWH of power annually. TCI must understand the impact that their program has on other initiatives also looking to utilize more electricity. TCI is not operating in isolation and has the responsibility not to operate in the dark either, and ensure that electric reliability is not compromised.

• Although EVs are considered a low- or zero-emission vehicles, they are only as clean as the electricity that charges them. Connecticut is heavily reliant on natural gas to generate electricity and becoming more dependent on it as nuclear generation in the region is retired. Natural gas (methane) is more than seventy times as potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and combusting natural gas also emits carbon dioxide. According to the Department of Energy, an EV produces 4,362 lbs of CO2e per year (https://afdc.energy.gov/vehicles/electric_emissions.html)– that’s almost two tons – hardly emissions-free, and that doesn’t even consider the CO2 resulting from their manufacture. TCI needs to fully understand the lifecycle impact of EVs and the source of the fuel that electricity is being generated from before EVs are designated as “clean”. It is intellectually and environmentally dishonest to claim that electricity is clean when ISO New England today (10/29/19) reports that just 8% of electric generation is renewable and 53% is generated with natural gas. Methane’s impact on climate change is an inconvenient truth. A recent study commissioned by the Connecticut Chapter of the Sierra Club (https://issuu.com/ctsierraclub/docs/hartford__ct_mobile_methane_leak_su) found that in Hartford, CT alone, gas pipelines leak approximately 43,000 cubic feet per day, or 313 metric tons per year. That is equivalent spilling and not cleaning up 320 gallons of diesel per day (or 117,000 gallons per year). Just because you can’t see natural gas leaks, it doesn’t mean that they are not there and that they are not doing environmental damage. According to Gale Ridge, PhD, a scientist and researcher on the Sierra Club study, “In a one month period, we found about 700 leaks in Hartford. Over a one-year period covering the same area, PURA reported 139 leaks. Even recognizing that some of the leaks we found are known to PURA, that’s about a 5-fold difference. We believe that CNG may be missing a large percentage of its leaks.”


A real time solution that can be implemented immediately is the use of a low carbon renewable liquid fuel (LCRLF) such as Biodiesel. Biodiesel is blended today with traditional diesel distillate and is used for transportation and heating across the country. As the technology for this fuel advances, higher and higher blends of Biodiesel will be used and traditional diesel distillate will be phased out. By phasing over to LCRLFs, we can use the current liquid fuel transportation systems in place across the country (pipelines, barges, trucks, retail outlets, etc.). Also, US truck manufacturers already have diesel trucks that run on Biodiesel blends, so there wont be a need to convert trucks and future cars over to a new fuel. In fact, Biodiesel is the only fuel currently that can get us to carbon neutrality in the future, all of the other current forms of energy we have today, including natural gas, cannot do that. For more information on Biodiesel please see: https://www.biodiesel.org/

I ask that TCI take all of these issues into consideration before they decide to move forward.

Thank you.

Rick Bologna

Most of Maine is rural and the people who live here often struggle to make ends meet. The costs of transportation in a state where public transportation is limited or non-existent is already too high. Add to that the fact that Maine bills itself as "vacationland" and who would want to vacation in a state with such high taxes already and that wants to increase the cost of fuel. I oppose any increase in state fuel taxes and will vote accordingly.

Maine can see significant economic, health, and environmental benefits by transitioning to cleaner and more efficient transportation options through adoption of Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI).

I strongly support it!