TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

Washington County Maine is one of the largest counties in Maine, 3,258 square miles. Its also one of the poorest with 20% of people in rural areas living below the poverty level. We have a disproportionate number of seniors who travel long distances for medical care, some also have to pay a driver because there is no public transportation to large medical facilities 100 or 200 miles away round trip. The largest VA center is an all day trip there & back. Our basic necessities are more expensive because of transportation costs Our school budgets are higher because of transportation expenses in a geographically isolated area boarded by Canada and the Atlantic Ocean. There has been a huge loss of jobs here and no work for young people who have to move away for work. We are the "other state of Maine" separate from urban centers where the economy of scale can afford more services like public transportation. If our governor lived in the 2nd congressional district or even cared about it she would not propose such draconian measures to save the planet. People here will die for lack of access to necessary transportation at a cost they cannot afford

Automobile and truck traffic are the largest contributors to environmental pollution, climate change, and global warming. Public transportation can mitigate some of this. An even more effective action would be to make it free for the public, as other cities in the world have.

Sustainable and convenient transportation is greatly needed. We need to get more cars off our roads to help reduce carbon emissions. Convenient and reliable public transportation is needed to help our citizens who cannot afford or have problems maintaining a personal vehicle. I have recently downsized to one vehicle for our household and would use public transportation more if it was convenient. Let's reduce the number of cars on our highways to help with climate change and the stress that congestion brings to our citizens.

I could cry that 40 years ago we had bipartisan desire to do something on the climate, until the fossil fuel industry threw money at disinformation. There can be no bigger crime. Why are they not in jail?

I think this initiative is very important, and I am proud and gratified that my state is part of this New England alliance to take meaningful and needed action against the growing climate crisis. I urge my state politicians, regardless of their affiliation, to support this initiative wholeheartedly. I realize on such initiatives that some politicians may resist such initiatives primarily on the basis of cost, and I urge them not to. When there is important needed action, cost should not be an issue. State legislatures find ways every year to found any number of actions. Politicians who do not want to support an initiative like this one aren't really saying that the state can't afford to fund an initiative like this one, they are saying that they would prefer not to fund an initiative like this one, that they would rather spend the money on something else. That should not be an option. "Climate change" is really "climate crisis." Humans have been seriously harming our Earth for some time now, and our Earth, in turn, is now starting to hurt humans. This situation will only get worse unless we work aggressively against it. The consequences will be dire. I urge all state politicians to support this initiative.

Time to put a stop to the undue and dangerous influence of the fossil fuel industry. We've been being held up for far too long by these bandits.

Please support clean transportation in Maine. We must all work fast to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our transportation system.

Case in point: Antarctica recently reached 70F. The Thwaites Glacier, melting away from below by contact with warm seawater, is on track to release a huge flow of land-based ice that alone will cause 2 ft in sea level rise. Where I live in Maine, the large Penobscot Bay used to freeze over in winter but that hasn't been seen now in decades. Australia and California are burning due to climate change-induced draughts. Species are threatened with extinction. I could go on.

Support clean transportation in Maine!

I grew up in South Jersey where transportation without a car is limited. Since college I have lived in Philadelphia where transportation is plentiful and a car is a luxury and an unnecessary expense. Growing up in rural area I appreciate nature and do not like seeing it degraded by pollution.
Now that the Oil refinery in South Philadelphia is gone we need to think in terms of alternative fuels. I owned a car for less than ten years and got rid of it in 1976. I do not miss it. I walk, ride a bike and SEPTA wherever I need to go. I once worked to limit car use in Delaware under Clinton's ISTEA law. It should still be in effect today.