The Beacon Hill Institute recently published a full-scale study of a proposed Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) for Massachusetts. Using Beacon Hill’s trademarked Massachusetts State Tax Analysis Modeling Program Model (STAMP), the Institute found that under the TCI the cost of gasoline would increase by 26 cents per gallon while the cost of diesel fuel, upon which our trucking industry depends, would increase by 52 cents. In turn, the TCI would destroy nearly 10,000 private sector jobs.

To put a finer point on it: Every family would face nearly an additional $800 in taxes—and all to no positive effect. As Director of Research William Burke wrote recently in Commonwealth Magazine: “While being a climate leader is considered important, the massive costs incurred by taxpayers under the TCI will do little to reverse or slow anthropocentric climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions.”