Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Biomass And Biofuels In Maine: Estimating Supplies For Expanding The Forest Products Industry, Jonathan Rubin, Kate Dickerson, Jacob Kavkewitz

Energy & the Environment

This paper estimates the renewable energy potential of Maine’s forest resources, and how much energy these resources could potentially provide the state. Using the most recent state-specific data available, and a methodology similar to the Billion Tons Report, we find that ethanol production from Maine’s forest residues could potentially provide 18% of Maine’s transportation (gasoline) fuels with a fermentation wood to ethanol process. Making Fischer-Tropsch diesel (F-T diesel) using forest residues can replace 39% of Maine’s petro-diesel consumption. Actual levels of biofuels that can be produced will depend on conversion factors and forestry residue removals that are subject to uncertainty.

Mr442: Business Climate For Maine's Environmental And Energy Technology Sector, Caroline L. Noblet, Todd M. Gabe

Miscellaneous Reports

This report presents findings from a survey that concentrated on issues pertaining to Maine’s business climate for the environmental and energy technology sector. The Environmental and Energy Technology (E2Tech) Council of Maine commissioned the survey, with support from the Maine Technology Institute’s Cluster Enhancement Award. The survey, conducted during the summer of 2006, collected information on the factors believed to affect the business climate for Maine’s environmental and energy technology sector, including availability of external investment, skilled workforce, collaboration among firms and in-state partners. Information on state characteristics (e.g., taxes, state/local government support, location relative to key inputs) that may …

Impact Of New Science And Engineering Graduates On Intrastate Labor Markets, Philip A. Trostel

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

A major policy issue confronting states is the level of state support to higher education. A crucial question in this policy debate is whether a state's production of college graduates has a proportionate effect on the level of college attainment in the state. Although it is widely accepted that rising college attainment leads to rising prosperity, there is widespread concern that many new college graduates will take their state-supported degrees to labor markets in other states. The belief that state support to higher education subsidizes the workforce development of other states undermines states' incentives to promote wider access to higher …

Recognizing And Preventing Hazards In The Construction Industry, Bureau Of Labor Education. University Of Maine

Bureau of Labor Education

By the nature of the work, the construction industry is very hazardous and dangerous. These dangers are multiplied still further when workers and supervisors employed in this industry are working at manufacturing sites such as pulp and paper mills. This handbook deals with the following hazards confronting workers and employers in construction, which have been identified by OSHA as priority areas for hazard recognition and prevention: • fall hazards on the same level or from a higher to a lower one; • being struck by or against any hazardous materials, equipment, or vehicles; • getting caught on, caught in, or …

Stretching The Law, Stressing The State Misclassified Workers In Maine's Construction Industry, Bureau Of Labor Education. University Of Maine

Bureau of Labor Education

The classification of independent contractors (ICs) is problematic in a number of industries and employment situations. This paper is intended as a survey of IC issues as they affect the construction industry in Maine. Construction companies have recourse to hourly labor for much of their work requirements, but like many other businesses, they also often employ independent contractors for some parts of their various building contracts. There is considerable evidence that these two job categories are being manipulated by some employers to bypass the legal intent of IC classification. A 2000 report produced for the U.S. Department of Labor found …

Access To The Waterfront: Issues And Solutions Across The Nation, Natalie Springuel, Kathlyn Tenga-Gonzalez, Beth Owen, Kristen Whiting-Grant, Susan White, Paul Anderson

Maine Sea Grant Publications

A tide of demographic and economic change is moving through coastal towns, harbors, and communities throughout the United States. As the various regions and states confront the resulting conflicts over access to beaches, shorelines, and waterways, they are recognizing the need to identify and share tools and solutions.

In December 2006, Maine Sea Grant, with support from Hawaii Sea Grant and an advisory committee from the National Sea Grant network and Coastal Zone Management programs, surveyed over 140 extension professionals, coastal managers, and other individuals to characterize the scope of coastal access issues nationwide and the effects on coastal communities, …

Are The Economics Of A Sustainable Maine Forest Sustainable?, Mike Levert, Charles S. Colgan, Charles Lawton

Maine Policy Review

Mike LeVert, Charles Colgan and Charles Lawton discuss the transformation of the economic environment of Maine’s forests over the past two decades. Paper companies have sold most of their holdings; residential and conservation demand for land has increased; forestland prices have skyrocketed; and new classes of landowners have different strategies, objectives, and time horizons than the old industrial landowners. The authors believe that management of Maine’s forests must now address changes in the economic environment with the same intensity as threats such as the spruce budworm were addressed if we are to keep Maine’s forests as forests.

Houses In The Woods: Lessons From The Plum Creek Concept Plan, Kathleen Bell

Maine Policy Review

Residential growth pressures have arrived at the edge of Maine’s North Woods. Kathleen Bell in this article examines changes in the economics of rural land use in Maine. She notes that public debate over Plum Creek’s proposal for development in the Moosehead region reminds us that we need to increase our understanding of the interactions between residential growth pressures, changing landownership patterns, and new expectations for Maine’s forestlands