When President Trump attempted to eliminate California’s more stringent fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas standards for cars and trucks, local elected officials cried foul — and not just in California. Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and the District all use California’s tougher standards. But in the face of a growing and urgent climate crisis, even those standards are insufficient. We need to push the envelope further — with cleaner cars and more trains, more buses, more safe places to bike, walk and roll, and we need a way to do all of this on a massive scale.
That’s what the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) is all about. Regional leaders from 12 states and the District — from Virginia to Maine — are working collaboratively to develop a regional cap-and-invest system to reduce carbon emissions from the transportation sector and provide a new source of revenue for clean, climate-friendly transportation.
To be sure, this initiative is about addressing the very real threat climate change poses to us all, but it also could be transformative in other ways. Busy parents, people with disabilities, students, the poor, service workers, businesses and people who enjoy the freedom of public transit all stand to gain from more transportation options. In our region, companies of all sizes are moving to walkable, transit-oriented places to ensure the workforce of tomorrow has the transportation choices it needs and demands. If we harness that potential and invest the proceeds wisely, the TCI offers an opportunity to create more walkable and bike-friendly communities served by transit.
