There is no more important issue on the table for Mainers than strengthening the state’s economy. It is for this reason that we are committed to fighting for and promoting the development of a strong green job economy here in the state. Perhaps you have read in MaineBiz that Maine’s green jobs sector is growing [...]

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 [...]

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 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 Ron Bancroft An expanded sales tax, a lower overall income tax rate and progress on efficiency all merit praise. As I suggested last week, two significant pieces of legislation dominated the latter days of the legislative session in Augusta: tax reform and an omnibus energy bill. Many of us had given up hope that [...]

AUGUSTA – Governor John E. Baldacci today signed into law LD 1485, An Act Regarding Maine’s Energy Future. The emergency measure sets aggressive goals to end Maine’s dangerous dependency on foreign fuels. “Maine is a leader in addressing clean, renewable energy and pursuing green jobs,” said Governor Baldacci. “This law is a significant and bold [...]

By DEIRDRE FULTON “I think we had a major impact on the thinking going on in the Legislature,” says Rob Brown, executive director of Opportunity Maine, the non-profit that previously focused on keeping young, educated Mainers in the state, which submitted its own energy-related bill (through Democratic Bowdoinham representative Seth Berry) to the Legislature; many [...]

By Deirdre Fulton, Portland Phoenix To make the most of huge chunks of incoming federal economic-stimulus cash (and to get their hands on more of it in the first place), the Maine Legislature has to ramp up its energy-efficiency planning — on the double. The task isn’t as sexy as, say, building majestic wind farms, [...]

Bills to fix the tax system and establish a state energy policy deserve support. RON BANCROFT, Portland Press Herald Columnist Stranded once again at Chicago’s O’Hare airport last Friday, I stayed the night at the O’Hare Hilton, the only hotel that is actually within walking distance of the terminals. As I checked out Saturday morning [...]

State House: Efficiency Maine Trust, a new agency, could boost conservation, investment and new jobs. By TUX TURKEL A new state energy agency would direct tens of millions of dollars into weatherization, conservation and efficiency programs under a bill facing final consideration in the Maine Legislature. To be called the Efficiency Maine Trust, the agency [...]