Throughout January and February, Vermont state officials and regional planning commission staff are hosting four public information meetings to discuss the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI), a regional program that would place a cap on emissions from fossil fuel companies and use revenue raised to help participating states invest in cleaner transportation options. Modeled after the successful Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which capped emissions in the power sector, this regional approach is intended to reduce emissions in the most carbon-polluting sector — transportation — and use revenues raised to help transform our current system to a more clean, efficient, affordable transportation network.
At this moment, TCI offers the best, most comprehensive approach to reducing emissions from transportation and investing revenues raised in strategic ways, including enabling the ability to prioritize low income and rural Vermonters in the process. Learn more and weigh in at an upcoming meeting or through the public comment period — closing on Feb. 12.
Find out more and weigh in at one of the upcoming public meetings, which will feature a brief overview of TCI and provide more details about the specific proposals in the draft regional Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and the associated modeling results. After the initial presentation, state officials will take questions and hear feedback on the draft MOU.
Find a public meeting near you below:
TCI Public Meeting – St. Johnsbury
January 29, 2020 | 6:00 – 8:00pm
NVDA Conference Room
36 Eastern Ave
St. Johnsbury, VT
Contact: Doug Morton – dmorton@nvda.net
TCI Public Meeting – Manchester Center
January 30, 2020| 7:00 – 9:00pm
Hunter Room
Manchester Community Library
138 Cemetery Ave
Manchester Center, VT
Contact: Jim Sullivan – jsullivan@bcrcvt.org
TCI Public Meeting – Burlington
February 6, 2020 |6:00 – 8:00pm
Contois Auditorium, Burlington City Hall, 149 Church Street
Burlington, VT
Contact: Charlie Baker – cbaker@ccrpcvt.org
TCI Public Meeting – Springfield
February 13, 2020 | 6:00 – 8:00pm
Selectboard Chambers (3rd floor)
Town of Springfield Offices
96 Main Street
Springfield, VT
Contact: Tom Kennedy – tkennedy@swcrpc.org
The draft MOU builds on the program framework released in October. A final MOU is expected in the Spring of 2020. At that time, each of the TCI states and the District of Columbia will decide whether to sign the final MOU and participate in the regional program, which could be operational by 2022.
For more information:
- Vermont TCI website
- Regional TCI website
- Draft “Memorandum of Understanding” (Draft MOU) released December 17, 2019
- Public webinar: Officials from the TCI states and Georgetown University will share highlights from the draft MOU and provide an overview of the TCI regional low-carbon transportation policy development process.
- Recent op-eds by Daniel Gatti, Union of Concerned Scientists on how TCI could help rural Vermonters and by VNRC’s Kate McCarthy on how TCI can help fund transportation transformation in a rural state.
- Submit your input on the draft MOU by Feb. 28. Submit here… and find others’ input here.
Sincerely,
Johanna Miller
Energy and Climate Program Director
Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC)
9 Bailey Avenue
Montpelier, VT 05602
802.223.2328, x118
vnrc.org
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