SUNUNU: NEW GAS FEE WILL THROTTLE MASS.
But the Bay State’s energy secretary keeps pushing measure
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu predicted the downfall of the Transportation Climate Initiative and a replacement for it in an exclusive interview with the Herald Tuesday as Massachusetts Legislators questioned the Baker administration about a Plan B.
“If you can’t get Connecticut and Maine on board and Vermont, I mean, come on. My sense is it all falls part,” Sununu told the Herald. “I think they’re going to try another iteration.”
Sununu couldn’t say what that iteration might look like, but meanwhile, lawmakers on a legislative committee considering carbon pricing proposals floated the idea of joining California or soliciting other states outside the region or even provinces in Canada to create a market for carbon allowances, according to Energy Secretary Kathleen Theoharides.
State Sen. Michael Barrett, a Lexington Democrat and the co-chairman of the Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee, asked Theoharides what would happen if the coalition that began with 12 states and the District of Columbia fell apart after governors in New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont cast a shadow on the Initiative last week.
“Not ideal but workable, right?” he asked.
“I will give you the honest answer,” Theoharides said, “which is that I’m fully committed to getting TCI done and I’m not looking at Plan B’s because I still believe we can get this done.”
The Granite State governor rejected the Transportation Climate Initiative, which would implement a gas fee to reduce carbon emissions, just hours after a draft memorandum of understanding was released last month. The multistate compact would raise gas prices between 5 and 17 cents per gallon in the first year, which Sununu called “absolutely outrageous,” and added that it is unclear how much higher that amount would go in following years.
Since then, Connecticut
Gov. Ned Lamont called the measure a “gas tax” that will punish drivers earlier this week and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said he cannot support proposals that will increase costs for commuters. Maine Gov. Janet Mills will be “appropriately cautious” as she “continues to monitor” the Initiative, a spokeswoman said last week.
Sununu, who was in town Tuesday speaking at a luncheon hosted by the MassFiscal Alliance, went so far as to say he would thank Massachusetts for joining the Transportation Climate Initiative.
“Thank you, because you’re going to drive all the business to New Hampshire,” Sununu told the Herald. “Everyone’s going to come over the border. You might as well shut down every gas station and convenience shop along the border. It would be really tough.”
Sununu argued that the current regulations will reduce green house gas emissions by 19% without any additional incentives, and under the “very liberal
estimates” the TCI would reduce emissions by an additional 1% to 6%.
The measure would send Massachusetts taxes “through the roof ” and create a “windfall of money,” Sununu said, while leaving the other states like New Hampshire with the bill.
“I understand — I don’t agree with it — but I understand the concept of why Massachusetts wanted it,” Sununu said. “At the end of the day, you have to do what’s right by your citizens and we did. People say it was bold, but for me wasn’t bold. It was common sense. … My job is not to fix your problems.”