Climate, Energy, and Prosperity
A New GrowSmart Report on
Growing the ‘Green Innovation’ Economy in Maine
GROWING THE ECONOMY IN THE CONTEXT OF RISING TEMPERATURES
AND RISING ENERGY PRICES
The 2006 GrowSmart Maine-Brookings report exhorted Maine to "invest in a place-based, innovation-focused economy" and to "catalyze job-creation and wealth-formation by enhancing Maine's emerging industrial clusters," all while protecting the increasingly fragile quality of place that provides the distinctive character that constitutes Maine's most compelling asset.
Energy costs and climate change will challenge Maine's natural resource industries, but also present new opportunities for "green" economic growth.
Nearly two years after that report's release, Maine has committed to growing its innovation economy with a $55 million research and development investment bond, new resources for cluster development in governments and in institutions statewide, and increasing private and public investments in the state's working landscapes and quality downtown areas. At the same time, new issues are rising to the forefront of public discussion in our state, and especially in Maine's rural economies: the challenges of a changing climate, and of rapidly-rising energy costs.
Much of the state's character and economy relies on traditional natural resource industries - forestry, farming, lobstering, as well as tourism, skiing, snowmobiling and other outdoor recreational activities- all of which are particularly vulnerable to the projected impacts of climate change and rising energy costs. These new challenges raise many questions, including:
- How will the changing climate and increasing costs of fossil energy affect Maine's economy?
- What must we do to minimize the damage and to adapt to those changes we can't control?
- What opportunities will arise to grow a more green economy in Maine and revitalize the state's working landscapes?
- What steps should we take now to help spur investment and job creation in a green economy that relies less on imported oil and more on Maine's abundant natural resources for energy?
THE REPORT WILL LOOK AT TRENDS, POLICIES AND POSSIBLE ACTIONS
The report will assemble the best current data on climate change and energy supply in Maine, including: - The nature and extent of environmental and economic impacts Maine can expect under a range of scenarios;
- The costs and benefits to Maine's economy, including which industries and businesses are likely to suffer or thrive over the next 30 to 40 years;
- Possible impacts on coastal and inland communities, as well as on the environment and human health;
- Actions that must be taken by Maine people, businesses and government leaders to stabilize the climate and reduce energy expenditures; and,
- How Maine can build a new innovation-focused economy that will take advantage of the changes ahead, create jobs, build new wealth, and lead to a sustainable green economy.
HOW THE REPORT WILL BE ORGANIZED
The report will duplicate many of the highly successful elements of the Brookings study. In addition to providing Maine people with the best available data, it will also propose an Action Plan with concrete recommendations regarding mitigation and adaptation to the impacts of climate change and energy supply instability. GrowSmart Maine will then work to ensure that these recommendations are fully implemented throughout the state, in government, in the private sector, and by ordinary Mainers as well.
The report will engage one or more nationally-respected research and policy firms, and involve in-state experts to undertake portions of the research and analysis. It will reach out to Maine scientists, economists, businesses, non-profit and government leaders and citizens throughout the state to gather ideas, information and insight. Perhaps most importantly, GrowSmart will ensure that the study employs a style and language that is accessible to ordinary citizens, and which can become the basis of an ever-widening circle of public support for action.
GrowSmart Maine believes it can reproduce the astonishing and catalytic effect that Charting Maine's Future is already having in Maine, where hundreds of news stories and conversations are leading to new policies and programs aimed at bringing the vision of the report to fruition.
FUNDING THE REPORT
As with the 2006 Brookings Report, this will be a citizens' effort relying on the support of private individuals, companies and foundations. The overall cost of the report, including outreach and implementation, will be in the $650,000 range, over a two-year interval.
A TIMETABLE FOR ACTION
We hope to secure funding and begin background research for the report by the fall of 2008. We need the support of Mainers like you to complete this project - please contact Alan Caron at 847-9275 ext. 307 if you are interested in making a pledge.
Once fundraising is complete, we will follow the model pioneered for the 2006 Brookings report, beginning with a series of statewide "listening sessions" that will collect input, concerns, and ideas from ordinary Mainers and encourage their buy-in as stakeholders in the project.
We aim to publish the report in mid-2009, and will follow up with an aggressive statewide campaign to take the results to dozens of public meetings and forums around the state and to engage the public in this conversation. That will be followed by a multiyear effort to mobilize Maine people and to engage state and local governments in implementing the report's recommended course of action.
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