State senate Republicans are pushing back against a Democratic plan to cap carbon emissions.

They say the plan puts an unfair burden on taxpayers.

Republican senators joined consumers in Stratford Wednesday at the Wheels gas station on Lordship Boulevard for a "Stop the Gas Tax Rally" in opposition to the Transportation Climate Initiative.

The Transportation Climate Initiative isn't technically a tax. The plan would put a decreasing cap on carbon emissions and make gas suppliers pay to pollute.

Opponents said those costs will be passed on to consumers and are not confident the state can spend that revenue responsibly. They also cited that the plan does not clearly explain how it is going to impact or save the climate.

TCI opponents point out that nothing Connecticut does will matter if states to the west keep polluting.

RELATED: New state report shows Connecticut is ‘heading in the wrong direction’ on climate change

"The weather pattern blows west to east. Unless that happens, Connecticut is not going to get the benefit from the investment they make," Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly said.

Kelly said the Democrats' projection of five cents more per gallon at the pump falls short.

"There was a tough study that was looking at, in order to start this, really get some traction, they were going to need in the area of 35 to 40 cents a gallon," Kelly said.

State Democrats quickly fired back. Senate majority leader Bob Duff said in part in a statement, "last week's devastating storm and tonight's predicted bad weather are more signs that we need to clean our air, reduce pollution and tackle climate change now. It's time for the Republicans to come to the table with solutions to combat the very real threat of climate change."

Senate Democrats are expected to raise TCI again for debate in a special session later this month.