The Pew Project on National Security, Energy and Climate hosted a public forum to showcase how climate change and our energy use impact Maine and threaten the country’s national security. A panel of political and military leaders discussed the critical links between climate change, protecting our national security, increasing our energy independence and preserving our nation’s natural resources.

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Martha Freeman, director of the Maine State Planning Office, listens as Dr. Habib Dagher explains more about the UMO offshore wind platform testing site to Governor John Baldacci. Maine is building the first offshore floating wind platform in the U.S. and with it a reputation.

With the national focus on building manufacturing jobs in the alternative energy sector what makes Maine more attractive than other states to investors?

“Maine has three major ports, which recently received recovery act funds for improvements. Our three-port strategy connects our ports to railroads, as well as overseas markets by ship. We have a capable productive workforce. We are conducting ground-breaking research in composite wind technology with Dr. Habib Dagher, and his team, at the University of Maine. Bath Iron Works are looking to develop ships to carry the windmills for deployment at sea. Maine industries have built wind power expertise erecting land based wind farms, which generate the most wind power in New England. On top of all that, we have the most offshore wind potential in New England.

“Key to it all is location.

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A University of Maine Cooperative Extension and six Maine schools are moving forward with oil-to-wood heating projects with the announcement that they will collectively receive more than $3.2 million in federal recovery funds.

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A massive hanger on BNAS. The base has nearly two million square feet of industrial and commercial space that could be used to build wind turbines and component parts.

Instilling confidence that Maine is the right partner to work with in producing wind turbines was a clear objective of Maine’s delegation that hosted the Norwegian company’s visit. Another stop along their tour was the soon-to-be decommissioned Naval Air Station Brunswick.

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“The Pentagon has declared our dependency on foreign fuels a security threat,” said President Barack Obama during a press conference last November. “Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are traveling the county as part of Operation Free, campaigning to end our dependence on oil.”

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Last fall, Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, which ships natural gas through Maine to Massachusetts, tripled its capacity under its Phase IV project with a new 146-mile pipeline. The natural gas is compressed in Brewer. This $300 million Phase IV expansion project went on line in January, 2009, and has made it possible to deliver natural gas daily to markets in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Atlantic Canada.

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Maine will receive more than $1.7 million from the sixth Regional Green House Gas Initiative, RGGI, auction, part of a regional cap and trade program used to regulate greenhouse gases.

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As Congress prepares a package of tax provisions for floor action, Congressman Mike Michaud is pushing for an extension of a tax credit that supports the production of renewable energy at biomass facilities. The tax credit, which has been used by Maine paper companies, currently goes to facilities that produce electricity using open-loop biomass.

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Efficiency Maine—a program of the Maine Public Utilities Commission—has just awarded 11 organizations up to $50,000 each for renewable electricity demonstration programs.

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Maine’s Department of Conservation has an online interactive map that allows users to see the various layers of information that have directly affected the search for suitable areas to test new wind energy technologies.

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