Around New England

Here’s Why Vermont Didn’t Join the Transportation and Climate Initiative Fee on Gasoline and Diesel

December 23, 2020

Will Vermont join the Transportation and Climate Initiative?

Not right now.

On Monday, December 21, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Washington D.C. signed the Transportation and Climate Initiative memorandum of understanding.

Peter Walke, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, told Seven Days why Vermont was not among those states.

“Because we don’t need to make a determination right now, it behooves us to continue to evaluate information and policies that are coming out of the federal level and things that the Climate Council is considering,” he said.

The pact would put fees on fuel providers based on their carbon emissions. The revenue would then go towards funding public transportation.

Initial estimates said that it could raise the price of gas and diesel by up to 17 cents per gallon. However, the Fiscal Alliance Foundation and Beacon Hill Institute estimated in a recent study that it may up the gas price by 18 cents per gallon and the on-the-road diesel price by 35 cents per gallon.


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