New Hampshire Declines to Participate In the Transportation Climate Initiative

Concord, NH – Today, Governor Chris Sununu announced that New Hampshire will not be participating in the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI). Under this scheme, New Hampshire drivers would be forced to pay a significant new gas tax with little environmental benefit to the state.
 
“I will not force Granite Staters to pay more for their gas just to subsidize other state’s crumbling infrastructure,” said Governor Chris Sununu. “New Hampshire is already taking substantial steps to curb our carbon emissions, and this initiative, if enacted, would institute a new gas tax by up to 17 cents per gallon while only achieving minimal results. This program is a financial boondoggle and the people of New Hampshire will never support it.”
 
Rural communities would be left at a severe disadvantage if New Hampshire participated in the TCI, as drivers will bear the brunt of the artificially higher gas prices.
 
“NHDES has been actively monitoring the TCI process for the past year in order to fully understand the potential long and short term impacts of this potential regional program on NH,” said DES Commissioner Bob Scott. “NHDES intends to continue to observe these efforts and represent the interests of NH."
 
“There are clearly better ways to achieve the purported goals of this program,” said Office of Strategic Initiatives Director Jared Chicoine. “This proposal is a huge hit to the wallets of rural drivers. The data makes it clear that — even without the TCI proposal — the market is already projected to reach many of the same environmental benchmarks. Here in New Hampshire, we are already aggressively moving forward with smarter environmental initiatives like more EV charging stations, offshore wind, and low income solar incentives to ensure New Hampshire’s long legacy of environmental stewardship continues to move forward."

Governor Chris Sununu announced that New Hampshire will not be participating in the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI).