Northeast States Take First Step To Reduce Transport Emissions

"A coalition of New England and mid-Atlantic states on Tuesday took a first step toward limiting transportation emissions across 13 states.

At the heart of the draft proposal is an effort that would place pollution limits on middlemen who bring gasoline to U.S. consumers, forcing those companies to buy credits to compensate for pollution that will stem from their products.

The effort, known as the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI), is based on another similar regional cap and trade initiative known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. RGGI limits pollution from power plants, forcing utilities to pay if they exceed the caps.

States from Maine to Virginia are banding together to form a similar cooperative, but instead of power plants their efforts will be focused on oil terminals that store fuel before it heads to market as well distributors of gasoline.

Members of TCI are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia as well as the District of Columbia."

Rebecca Beitsch reports for The Hill October 1, 2019.

Source: The Hill, 10/02/2019