TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

Please help make Connecticut a leader in transportation and climate. The youth will respect you for trying.

I do not want this TCI initiative to go forward. It is a bunch of hoopla dreamed up by people who have nothing better to do. I grew up in a very conservative household and learned at a very young age to be very careful about wasting time, money and materials. I drive a hybrid car and have since their inception as I thought it was a great idea and wanted to support it. I compost what I can and recycle all that is recyclable. I don't need you to make laws to force me to do things I already do.

Maine needs help in reducing emisssions due to our rural nature and lack of public transportation options. Please provide help.

I strongly support the Transportation and Climate Initiative because it provides a means to transform Maine's transportation system, which MUST be done in order to meet GH gas emission reduction goals, and it uses RGGI as a model.
1. Market based solutions generally are most effective. RGGI has been an extremely successful model for reducing greenhouse gas emissions without negatively impacting the economy.
2. TCI, like RGGI, can be used to strategically direct funds to those people and sectors that will most effectively reduce emissions.
3. TCI would harness the power and resources of multiple states, which will be more effective than if Maine "goes it alone."

Yes, the HSR potential of the NEC is a must. However, higher-speed rail — 90 to 125 mph — is a perfect solution for underserved regions the like Great Lakes, Cleveland-Pittsburgh corridor, as well as Ohio’s long-delayed 3C project.

Very supportive of the plan. We need to end the "carbon externalithy." However, adding to the price of gasoline and diesel can be politically a tough sell. I hope you will allow those states that opt to implement the initiative to do so, and those states that opt not to will have the option to join later, perhaps when political changes occur, and climate change becomes more of a concern and action item.

TCI offers Vermont an opportunity to make serious progress in addressing the environmental damage caused by fossil fuels, not by going it alone, but by joining with northeastern states that represent nearly 1/4 of the US economy. Set up like the highly successful Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, it will provide revenue which can be used to fund greenhouse gas reducing measures in a way that strengthens our economy. I urge the governor to align Vermont with this important regional initiative.

I support TCI because, as an asthmatic, I find it important to reduce tailpipe emissions, which contribute to asthma and other health problems. In addition, I feel that it is important to reduce emissions of greenhouse emissions from all sources, including the important transportation sector, to mitigate climate change.

The Vermont government has been woefully inadequate in its actions to address climate change. We pride ourselves on being progressive and forward-thinking, but in truth we have made almost no progress whatsoever in addressing global warming over the last 20 years. This is shameful.

I am the Energy and Facilities Manager for Lebanon, NH. I live in and serve the Hartland, VT Energy Committee, and for 14 years served on the Brattleboro Energy Committee. I have been an active member of the VT Energy and Climate Action Network for 15 years, and have been working on energy and climate issues since undergraduate and graduate engineering school. The opportunities that we have lost through inaction are astounding, and future generations will damn us for it.

Vermont is a rural state, with many poor, working people. Reducing our transportation emissions is a huge challenge. Tremendous innovation and creativity will be needed, as well as lifestyle changes. Why is it that when America goes to war people are asked to make sacrifices, but never in the name of saving the planet? 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. I have lived in Mexico, and done it without a car. Why is 3rd world Mexico so much more advanced than America in its public transportation? It is because they dedicate the resources to provide good public transportation. TCI has the potential to direct resources to alternative transportation systems and infrastructure, which would lower people's living expenses and reduce our greenhouse gasses.

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 in order to do our part to save our habitable planet for future generations.

Thank you for the work you have done to advance the TCI.