The sulfur content of all fuel oils sold in Maine will be reduced incrementally from 2016 to 2018 by an estimated 60 percent from today’s levels. Under this new law Maine’s air quality will improve dramatically, and haze will be reduced.

The legislation was sponsored by Senator Seth Goodall and signed into law by Governor John E. Baldacci in April.

Read more ›

The Environmental Leader Program is a voluntary initiative where the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) helps advise businesses on how to best achieve savings through energy efficiency and other environmental initiatives to become better stewards of the environment. Often the program works with Efficiency Maine.

“Seven different states are coping the program we have in Maine,” said Peter Cooke, coordinator of the Environmental Leader Program. “It’s important that businesses and individuals realize that going green is not a huge hurdle to overcome. We are here to help.”

Read more ›

Maine has quality of place assets not many New England states offer. Artists and writers have flocked to the state for centuries, inspired by the state’s mountains, lakes, and over 3,000 miles of coastline. Industries were created in the state using Maine’s natural assets. Hydropower generated the energy to sustain mills that utilized the state’s forests, during the last century.

Read more ›

Radio address by Gov. John Baldacci

“Maine voters will go to the polls on June 8th and face several important questions. Democrats and Republicans will be asked to pick their party’s candidate for governor in November. But all voters have a chance to let their voices be heard on five important questions. How they vote will have a lasting impact on Maine’s economy. Maine voters are being asked to approve four bond questions that will make critical investments in our State and create new jobs.To make it to the ballot, these questions had to win overwhelmingly bipartisan support in the Legislature.

Read more ›

According to Dr. Dagher, Maine has the equivalent of 149 nuclear power plants in wind energy off the Maine coast.

Dagher is leading the DeepCwind Consortium at the University of Maine, which includes more than 35 public and private partners. Many are Maine companies, like Reed & Reed who has built a reputation in expertly erecting wind towers.

Dagher is improving wind technology with his team’s expertise in composites at UMO and their partnership with a Norwegian company that successfully deployed the world’s first floating wind turbine.

Read more ›

Clean energy — the job-creation issue in campaigns across the state. Maine has great potential in the green-energy economy with wind, waves, and wood resources in our backyard.

Under the Baldacci administration incentives have jumpstarted green businesses, and the groundwork for energy transmission corridors has been established, enabling an avenue for clean energy to become a major supplier. State government was one of the first to transition its buildings to become energy efficient, using biofuels, energy-efficient lights, and a hybrid fleet of cars, showcasing the energy-saving potential. Now the State has the Energy Efficiency Trust, which helps consumers and businesses find avenues to save funds with energy efficiency.

These are known facts amongst Democratic gubernatorial candidates, who pledge to grow Maine’s clean-energy economy.

Read more ›

LD 1495, An Act To Implement Tax Relief and Tax Reform, which passed in the Legislature last year, faces possible repeal. The law was heralded by the Wall Street Journal as, “Maine’s Miracle,” because it lowered taxes for every taxpayer during the recession — when most state had to raise income taxes.

Read more ›

Four chronic diseases cause seventy-five percent of deaths in Maine. They are cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic lung disease and diabetes.

Read more ›

Since President Barack Obama successfully signed health-care reform legislation into law last in March, some people are wondering what the insurance reform means for them. Last April the president paid a visit to Maine, in part to help explain some of the benefits. He reminded the audience that pursuing an agenda that makes America stronger has roots in the founding of our democracy. Fighting for those principles makes the country healthier.

Read more ›

A new law requires health insurance companies to pay annual assessments, depending on how many children are enrolled in their plans. The state will use the money to buy vaccines for all Maine children and distribute the doses to physicians.

Read more ›