Today, after a year of a robust policy design process, the 12 Northeast states and D.C. that are a part of the Transportation and Climate Initiative announced the release of a draft region-wide policy proposal to reduce pollution from the transportation sector and invest in clean transportation solutions. The proposal calls for states to reduce emissions up to 25% by 2032. Dozens of organizations have urged states to reduce emissions at least 45% by 2032.
Sierra Club polling shows that nearly 3 in 4 voters in Massachusetts (74%) support a regional approach to modernizing our transportation sector and reducing pollution by investing in electric vehicles, public transportation and safer communities for walking and biking.
In response to the release of the draft policy proposal, Deb Pasternak, the Director of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Sierra Club, released the following statement:
"In the face of the Trump Administration’s disastrous attempts to pump the brakes on cleaning up transportation across the nation, we applaud Governor Baker’s leadership in developing a regional approach to reduce transportation emissions and invest in solutions to move away from the outdated, dirty, health-harming status quo.
We urge Governor Baker to act boldly in the next step of the process to gather public input on this region-wide proposal. We need a strong cap on emissions to ensure the program will raise the funding necessary for transformative investments in infrastructure across the region and benefit communities overburdened by pollution and underserved by current transportation choices.”
