BY TUX TURKEL, Maine Sunday Telegram When heating oil spiked in 2008, roughly 500 Mainers took a state housing authority course to become weatherization technicians. Another 200 became certified energy auditors. Then two unexpected things happened: Oil prices collapsed and the country plunged into a deep recession. The result was that fewer people had the [...]

By Cliff Ginn and Rob Brown With so much attention on health care, few have noticed that Congress just passed crucial legislation to expand educational opportunity. Increasing access to higher education and training is the best way to prepare Americans with the knowledge and skills that the 21st century economy demands. Raising the proportion of [...]

There’s a serious shortage of environmentally friendly jobs in Maine that match the education schools offer. By ADAM MARQUIS, Portland Press Herald PORTLAND – Forget death and taxes. The two certainties of life in Maine are a lack of good-paying jobs and high and volatile energy costs. On education, as a recent college graduate facing [...]

By Cliff Ginn and Rob Brown With so much attention on health care, few have noticed that Congress just passed crucial legislation to expand educational opportunity. Increasing access to higher education and training is the best way to prepare Americans with the knowledge and skills that the 21st century economy demands. Raising the proportion of [...]

By Cliff Ginn Sun Journal, Mar 21, 2010 Recently, Gov. John Baldacci and Democratic legislative leaders unveiled two bond packages to promote job creation. These proposals move in the right direction, but should go further. In a recession, consumer spending and business investment plummet, leading to massive job losses. In the short term, those jobs [...]

By Rob Brown and Don Berry Maine’s intertwined economic and energy challenges have deep roots. We have the nation’s oldest housing and work force, greatest reliance on heating oil, and highest percentage of young people neither working pursuing education. Electricity costs are high, and Maine has the lowest income and education levels in New England. [...]

By Rob Brown , Special to the Sun Journal Energy costs are stifling Maine’s economy and making it increasingly difficult for ordinary people to pay their bills. The greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression has greatly accelerated the economic insecurity of Maine’s families, making this bad situation even worse. In this crisis lies an [...]

Building a new energy economy based on increasing efficiency and developing new energy sources requires the development of a trained workforce. Robert Brown and Clifford Ginn point out that Maine could be in an excellent position to take advantage of “green economy” work. http://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/files/pdf_mpr/brownGinn_V17N2.pdf

Robert E. Brown II and Clifford M. Ginn Maine Policy Review, Issue 17 Number 2 Fall/Winter 2008 Maine has enormous potential to build a new energy economy that will sustainably produce, distribute, consume, and reduce demand for energy. This will lower costs for citizens, businesses, government, and civic institutions while reducing global warming. Following the [...]

By Rob Brown & Auta Main The days when a high school diploma assured a good job for life are long gone. Like most growing industries, even Maine’s manufacturing sector now frequently requires education well beyond high school just to get in the door, let alone advance up the career – and income – ladder. [...]

http://www.clintonschoolresearch.com/lecture/view/opportunity-maine/

OpEd by Cliff Ginn and Justin Alfond As the legacies of two of the best-known business leaders and philanthropists in the state, we both now live, work and play in Maine because of its people, its unique sensibility, and because our roots here run deep. From an early age, we learned from our families that [...]