Mission:

Maine Energy Investment Corporation's mission is to "mainestream" renewable energy, making cleaner, healthier and homegrown fuel and electricity available to all Mainers. The Brunswick-based 501(c)3 non-profit manages a variety of projects promoting technologies like solar, biofuels, hydrogen and clean electricity.

Partners and Funders:

MEIC's projects would not be possible without the generous support of many partners and funders. MEIC particularly thanks the John Merck Fund, the Maine State Energy Program of the Public Utilities Commision (PUC), Maine Technology Institute, the Henry P. Kendall Fund, Chewonki Foundation, The Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment, and many others.

Energy Independence:

Today, our economies run on fossil fuels, to heat homes, drive our cars, generate electricity and power industries. Those fossil fuels, while so essential, are distinctly finite. In addition to being limited in supply, most fossil fuel we consume comes from abroad -- from the Middle East, from Southeast Asia, and South America. As our fossil fuel-based economy becomes more imperiled by energy shortages, political unrest and climate disruptions, increasingly our energy security is at risk. Home-grown, cost-effective renewable energy not only makes environmental sense, it will also provide the basis for long-term economic stability.

Climate Change:

In the late 1950s, Charles Keeling, a research scientist with the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, began what has become the longest-running study of atmospheric carbon dioxide in history.1 What he discovered, and what other scientists continue to reveal, is that humans are having a dramatic impact on our environment, on a global scale. The Intergovernmental Panel and Climate Change (IPCC) 's Fourth Assessment Report outlines a consensus understanding of climate change, along with predictions for the future and recommendations. The report states clearly: "Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global averages in sea levels."2 Moving clean, renewable energy technologies into widespread use as quickly as possible represents MEIC's reason for existence.