Transport Topics

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has stepped away from his administration’s plan to create a coalition of New England states with the purpose of cutting transportation pollution after the compact failed to generate broad support. Baker’s announcement came after Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, who supported the initiative, indicated he was abandoning the Transportation and Climate Initiative. Rhode Island was the only other state to have expressed interest in the deal. The governors of other states — New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont — were skeptical of the program, in part over fears that it amounts to a gas tax or a tax on carbon. The proposal would have required large gasoline and diesel fuel suppliers to purchase “allowances’’ for the pollution caused by the use of the fuels they sell in the region. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices