Suggesting that as Maine goes, so might the nation, Gov. John Baldacci earlier this week inked a bill aimed at encouraging the use of solar energy.

Kudos to him, and the Legislature, for that.

The bill allows rebates of up to $1,250 for solar hot water systems, and up to $6,400 for a solar home power system. Money to pay the rebates comes from an existing conservation surcharge on electric utility bills.

Now, some people might grouse about paying that surcharge just to give someone else a break. But the point is that anyone can qualify for the rebates; all we have to do is be willing to invest in clean, efficient solar energy.

The bottom line is that it’ll pay for itself.

And the governor made a good point when he said, “Each minute enough sunlight reaches the Earth to meet the world’s energy demand for an entire year.”

That’s something the federal government ought to be thinking about instead of spending countless hours debating the desire of some special interests to drill for a very limited supply of oil in a national wildlife sanctuary in Alaska.

Next, let’s put solar panels on the roofs and hoods of SUVs and see if we can’t improve their energy efficiency.