TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

We need to price carbon in transportation high so it causes big changes to our transportation. We also need to move all the federal and state money now funding the problem... like subsidies to oil, building more new roads, expanding airports, etc. ... this money all needs to be moved to funding the solutions like high speed rail, metros, light rail, bicycles networks, bikeshare, etc.

My name is Liz Robberson, I live in Portsmouth, RI, I am an educator, mother and concerned citizen of our climate.
I am requesting that the policy have a price high enough to effectively reduce emissions according to the latest science. Also that the policy have a strong component of social equity and doesn't hurt rural or low/moderate income people.
Thank you for the bipartisan nature of this project.

I am writing today to express my support for a strong carbon pricing policy in the transportation sector.
As a mother of three, I am very concerned if we can turn around and take action on climate change in time to avert the worst effects on our kids and grandkids. Having lived in Europe for a long time, I follow their efforts to reign in green house gas emissions closely, and I am glad that in the US, states and cities are finally getting on board and taking regional initiatives of their own.

I am thrilled to hear that the Transportation Climate Initiative is developing a policy that would put a price on carbon for our transportation sector. I am grateful and very optimistic for this policy, as it is a bipartisan endeavor.
In order for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states to achieve our necessary climate goal, pricing Carbon is a genial first step. The policy needs to
- put a price on carbon high enough to effectively decrease emissions (new technology enables higher efficiency, less consumption, but only if the old way gets more inconvenient or too expensive), and this price needs to be based on the latest science.
- Furthermore, the new policy needs to make sure that rural or low income populations are not hurt disproportionately.
The Citizens’ Climate Lobby has been working in a similar carbon pricing nation wide for years now. Please inquire how their model (clear, transparent pricing over 10 years, with the dividend distributed to all Americans equally) can inspire the new policy to be adopted by the TCI.
Thank you for taking my comments,
Adelheid Koepfer
35 Whiffle Tree Road
Wallingford, CT 06492

My name is Chris D'Agostino, and I am a recent college graduate from Brandeis University. I care deeply about the issue of climate change because as a young person, I will live to see its increasingly harmful consequences. I would like to see a policy with a high, steadily increasing price that fully compensates rural and low/moderate income earners for any rising costs. With a federal government apathetic to the issue of climate change, it is essential that states move aggressively to reduce emissions in a socially equitable manner. Thank you for your time.

Thank you for working on this important issue of reducing carbon dioxide equivalent and other pollution from the transportation section. I hope that the policy will have a pollution price high enough to effectively reduce the emissions needed according to the latest science --- that is, 50% reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

Please ensure that this policy has a strong component of social equity and doesn't hurt rural or low/moderate income people and those same populations have equal access to transport and EVs as anyone else.
I am appreciative that this can be a model for the rest of the country if done correctly. Moreover, it can show bipartisan support for strong action on climate pollutants and can usher the changes in the transportation sector that is so urgently needed. For further information on what states can do, please visit
Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization by Michael Gerrard and John Dernbach, editors:
https://biotech.law.lsu.edu/blog/deep_decarb_summary_booklet_online.pdf

Dear TCI Team,

I am so grateful for your hard work to expand regional carbon pricing to a new sector of the economy and to do so in an inclusive, collaborative, bipartisan manner. I look forward to learning more about TCI but want to share some of my hopes based on my first impressions, study of RGGI, and enthusiasm for MA's current fee and rebate proposal H.2810 from which we could all learn.

1. The price must be high enough to drive emissions reductions. For all the revenue RGGI has generated, I have yet to find a single economist who argues that the RGGI price (a paltry $4-$5 when last I checked) is high enough to drive emissions reductions. (All arguments I've seen have attributed falling emissions to our use of natural gas.) TCI must decide on a way to measure the effect of the price on consumer behavior, perhaps coupled with nudges at the moment where people are paying for fuels to encourage them toward greener solutions. Like H.2810, I hope that this price will be set to increase until regional emissions targets are met, rather than chosing an arbitrary ceiling.

2. H.2810 also uniquely proposes redistribution of 70% of its funds directly to families to financially equip them to make greener decisions. These rebates are weighted by income to ensure financial protections for the low-income communities most affected by climate change. This is the only carbon pricing bill to my knowledge that has received explicit support from Environmental Justice organizations in MA, and I think we must consider whether a rebate structure is possible in TCI to ensure that no family is left in a difficult situation. I also look forward to learning how TCI is working to engage and address the concerns of these organizations as expressed here: https://climatejusticealliance.org/climate-justice-equity-principles-transportation-climate-initiative/

3. Please continue to emphasize that the TCI is transportation sector specific. We should use the wide-reaching aspects of this project to highlight that home heating/cooling emissions remain untouched and that the unimpressive effects of RGGI in the electricity sector still need to be rectified. In our battle for H.2810 in MA, countless legislators are saying to us "H.2810 is not necessary because TCI will solve that problem." Instead, lets focus on the synergistic aspects of these two legislative efforts, with the climate crisis as the bottom line.

Thank you so much,
Eben

I am a former wind energy engineer. I am very concerned that we reduce carbon emissions as soon and as fast as possible.
1. Do a carbon tax or fee or cap and invest. Do NOT propose a cap and trade program!
2. Collected fees must be returned to citizens - to ensure strong public support
3. Make sure the dividends are structured to make sure low income communities are not unduly burdened by the transition to a green economy
4. Make sure that the tax or cap is adjusted each year to reduce emissions to zero by 2050
5. Provide rigorous independent studies to document the expected efficacy and possible down sides of the proposed plan

We have no time to lose! Any proposal must meet these requirements as it needs to be publicly acceptable and effectively reduce emissions!

Jeff Jones from Bangor, ME and I volunteer with the Citizens' Climate Lobby, which promotes bipartisan legislation as a solution to climate change disruption by assessing fees on carbon-based fuels and returning all of the money directly to individuals by dividend. Economists and others recognize that a market based approach, in some ways similar to RGGI, could work more effectively than non-market based proposals that rely on subsidies and regulations. This program, called Carbon Fee and Dividend, has been laid out in H.R. 763, The Energy Innovation and Dividend Act in Congress:
https://energyinnovationact.org/
I am in support of your effort and suggest that:
The policy should have a price high enough to effectively reduce emissions according to the latest science.
The policy should have a strong component of social equity and not hurt rural or low/moderate income people.
Thank you for the bipartisan nature of this project; I feel that is the only way to make it work.

I believe the TCI is long overdue and will help us transition to electrified transportation, just as RGGI has done for renewable energy. I encourage TCI states to be as aggressive as possible to encourage utilities, suppliers and end users to aid a rapid transition. I also hope TCI can expand beyond the 9 states to a national initiative. Thank you for this critically important initiative!