AUGUSTA – Despite the economic doom and gloom, Maine’s political leaders are excited about the state’s ability to establish itself in the emerging “green” industry.

A $20 million bond proposal by Rep. David Van Wie, D-New Gloucester, would provide incentives for community-based, small-scale wind projects, municipal energy conservation upgrades and zero-interest startup loans for manufacturers of alternative energy products, such as wind turbines.

Gov. John Baldacci, who last week made his own $306 million bond proposal to prompt economic growth, plans to focus much of his upcoming State of the State address on Maine’s green potential.

On the federal level, Sen. Olympia Snowe, a longtime champion of both the environment and small business, recently attended a prestigious climate change conference, which she said sharpened her focus on what’s going to be important for Maine and the country.

“I can see an infinite number of possibilities as we emerge from this recession,” she said in a recent interview. “We want to compete and Maine’s poised in that regard.”

Snowe said that Maine’s abundance of wind, water and trees bode well for alternative energy production, and the research capabilities of the University of Maine will play a huge role in technology development.

David Farmer, Baldacci’s deputy chief of staff, said the governor shares the senator’s optimism about Maine’s potential.

“We’ve got lots of resources and assets that other people just don’t have,” Farmer said on Friday. “Now we’ve just got to make sure everything’s in place going forward.”

Farmer said the ability of Maine’s community college and university systems to train and re-train workers for new industries is vital.

“Look at (the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College),” he said. “It’s an asset to Lewiston and an opportunity for students to transform into workers. We can’t necessarily pick the winning technologies or companies, but we can prepare people to succeed.”

Van Wie, who also works as an environmental energy consultant, said his bond is aimed at supporting and developing emerging technologies.

“We’re creating an industry here that wasn’t really in existence a year ago,” he said. “It’s an interesting field right now. I’ve been doing this 25 or 30 years; I’ve been waiting for this day to come for a long time.”

A combination of breakthroughs in technology, last summer’s freakishly high fuel prices and the depressed economy have gotten industries, government and consumers to commit to sustainability, Van Wie said.

Snowe said she remembered test-driving an electric car developed by a man in Piscataquis County in the early 1980s, after the energy crisis in the late ’70s.

“If we had truly committed ourselves then to solving the problem, where might we be now?” she said.

The climate conference, which featured former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and top officials from General Electric, Florida Power and Light, Cisco Systems and Duke Energy, left Snowe convinced that this time it would be different.

“These companies are putting together strategies for 20 and 30 years down the road, leaders of industry talking about conservation policies and energy alternatives,” she said. “We’ve got the pathway to jobs that will make us as a country not dependent on fossil fuels.”

Copy the Story Link