AUGUSTA (AP) – A special edition of a policy review by two of the state’s leading think tanks offers support for Gov. John Baldacci’s contention that environmentally sound principles can also drive the state’s economy.

The largest-ever edition of the Maine Policy Review, a twice-yearly joint publication of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and the Margaret Chase Smith Library, focuses on climate change and energy.

In its pages, authors describe innovative initiatives – wind, tidal, bioenergy linked to forest products and gas to energy from landfills – as the antidote to the state’s dependence on oil. Eight percent of the nation uses heating oil for heat, compared to 80 percent of homes in Maine, one of the authors wrote.

Enhanced energy efficiency and alternative fuels not only present a cost-effective approach but also serve as a convenient engine of economic development and job growth, the authors write.

“Some skeptics in this debate simply refuse to grasp that environmental protection is not merely compatible with economic growth, but can also create economic opportunities. If there were ever a need for economic opportunities it is now as our nation – and the global economy – heads forward on an uncharted path into this still-young 21st century,” Sen. Olympia Snowe wrote in the magazine’s Margaret Chase Smith essay.

Case studies come from Poland Spring Bottling, Prime Tanning in Hartland, Fairchild Semiconductor in South Portland, Oakhurst Dairy in Portland and the city of Saco.

Oakhurst, for example, increased truck fleet efficiency by switching from diesel to a soy/petroleum blend on vehicles and using software to cut travel time and fuel consumption. Oakhurst also installed what it calls one of the largest commercial solar thermal systems in the Northeast.

“We recommend that all businesses, large or small, look at their direct impact and strive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent,” wrote Oakhurst Chairman Stanley Bennett II.

The 157-page think tank journal with more than two dozens essays and articles came out shortly before Baldacci leaned heavily on energy in his recent State of the State address.

The governor said the state must invest in renewable energy and build a new electric grid that’s more reliable and can better connect Maine with the rest of the Northeast to new sources of power. He called for a $7.5 million fund to promote the development of offshore wind energy.

The Maine Policy Review targets a select readership of lawmakers, town managers and school superintendents and has a base circulation of only 2,600.

Extra copies were printed for the special issue, according to editor Ann Acheson of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine.

Even though it’s the largest edition since the journal began publication in 1991, Acheson acknowledges that its coverage is not complete.

Likewise, there’s no simple solution to protecting the environment and stopping climate change while fueling economic growth.

“What may be required,” writes guest editor Sam Townsend of the Environmental and Energy Technology Council of Maine, “is humankind’s greatest mobilization effort, perhaps requiring a global governance and technological revolution the likes of which has never before been seen.”

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