TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

I am totally against this initiative. It will do nothing to fight "climate change". It will only hurt Maine people. Especially lower income, rural folks who HAVE to commute to find work.

I strongly oppose the TCI gas tax. With Maine being very rural, this tax will only hurt its population. Prices of goods are already rising to high and adding a gas tax would raise them even higher. Low to middle class Mainers would be hit the hardest.

We need clean transportation immediately. What we started in the 1970s should have been finished long before now. We need to build and sell electric vehicles to replace combustion engine buses, trucks and cars. I purchased an all-electric car, the Volkswagon eGolf and paid $20,000 for it after rebates. Not everyone can afford to buy a new car, however, even if it is only $20,000, so the government needs to give incentives to people so that they can afford them. Cities and towns across the country need to replace their old buses and city vehicles to electric vehicles. Companies that use trucks need to purchase electric trucks.

First we need to implement a carbon fee and dividend program that will tax any company that extracts fossil fuels based on the ton of greenhouse gases the extracted fuels will emit when burned. Once the tax is collected by the government, the government will rebate all of that money back to every American household in the form of a dividend check. To incentivize other countries to reduce their carbon footprint, a border tax should be imposed on imports again based on the ton of greenhouse gases that were emitted to produce that product. Once a carbon fee and dividend law is enacted, innovation will be unleashed and manufacturers of electric vehicles will flood the market with them and their prices will decrease.

There is no time to waste on this.

It is the right thing to do for all future generations to end our dependence on dirty fuels and have great transportation.

Thank you for finally getting together in a bipartisan fashion to take action on global climate change by working on the transportation sector in the northeast. We are already seeing the effects of climate change in increased severe weather events and hotter temperature. The poor among us bear the brunt of the burden. Seeing that Massachusetts people are involved, I trust you will continue to lead. When investments are made in clean energy, I trust you will consult the communities involved, especially the poorer ones. Hopefully I will live to see the day (I am 79) of efficient train and bus service, electric car charging stations and dedicated bicycle and walking paths. The cost of doing nothing will be greater than that of taking action now.