Larisa Manescu, larisa.manescu@sierraclub.org
NORTHEAST & MID-ATLANTIC – Today, the 12 states and D.C. participating in the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) released a draft regional policy proposal to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from transportation.
States include Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia. Over 50 groups (and counting) support the TCI, including the Sierra Club, Green for All, Union of Concerned Scientists, and dozens more.
TCI can cap carbon pollution and create revenue that can be invested in programs that benefit communities across the region and further reduce the climate impact of the transportation sector. Potential transportation solutions include expanded, accessible public transportation services; electrification of transit fleets; rebates to make electric vehicles affordable for all consumers; better pedestrian and bike infrastructure; improved resiliency of transportation infrastructure; and more affordable housing near transit.
Feedback on the draft framework is open until Nov. 5, 2019.
In response, the Sierra Club's Eastern Region Deputy Director Mark Kresowik released the following statement:
"The Sierra Club applauds the Transportation and Climate Initiative states for working together to accelerate the clean transportation solutions that our communities desperately need and deserve. We are in a climate crisis and burning motor fuels is the largest source of climate-disrupting pollution regionally and nationally.”
“Now is a time for states to make bold and transformative investments, particularly with and for communities overburdened by pollution and under-resourced for clean transportation opportunities, including setting a strong cap on pollution, expanding access to zero-emission vehicles, providing electric mass transit as an alternative to driving, and investing in safe walking and biking paths to revitalize neighborhoods."
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.