STATE GOVERNORS BEING URGED TO ADOPT NEW CLIMATE FRIENDLY TRANSPORTATION INITIATIVE

A diverse group of investors, companies, trade associations, institutions and organizations across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic are urging the region’s governors today to band together and create a clean transportation future that enables economic growth.

In letters sent to the participating leaders, more than 100 signatories —including Akamai, DSM, Eversource Energy, Novartis and State Street — called the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to modernize and decarbonize our region’s transportation system” and emphasized how TCI will help to achieve several of their shared goals to:

Reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation;

Invest in much-needed public transit, alternative transportation and road infrastructure;

Alleviate traffic congestion;

Make the region more economically competitive; and

Generate a revenue stream to fund these and future transportation improvements.

“Legislation like the Transportation and Climate Initiative is a critical piece in achieving the scale and rate of change needed to avoid the most serious impacts of climate change,“ said James Goudreau, head of climate at Novartis. “Novartis recognizes its responsibility to achieve impactful change and collaborate with others to accelerate changes beyond our sector. In building trust with society we aim to: hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards, tackle complex global health challenges and be a responsible corporate citizen. This legislation supports our environmental sustainability strategy including our aspiration to become carbon neutral in our own operations by 2025, reduce our overall carbon footprint including supply chain by 50% by 2030, and to become plastic and water neutral by 2030.”

“With multiple facilities throughout the region and a commitment to emission reductions, Akamai supports the Transportation and Climate Initiative as an essential tool in modernizing our transportation system and reducing pollution,” said Mike Mattera, director of corporate sustainability at Akamai. “Our employees and customers see the impact of congestion on our roadways, limited public transit options and a need for more electric vehicle infrastructure. TCI is a bold proposal to tackle these challenges.”

This call comes as the 12 jurisdictions that are collaborating through TCI work to finalize a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining a market-based policy to create a clean, equitable and efficient transportation system for the region. The final MOU is expected in spring 2020.

All of the letters to each of the participating state leaders can be viewed here.

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