Testimony of Steve Taylor, Program Manager
Environmental Health Strategy Center
565 Congress Street, Portland, ME, 04101
www.preventharm.org
before the
Joint Select Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs
In SUPPORT of LD 842
February 23, 2012
Good afternoon. My name is Steve Taylor. I live in Topsham, and I am the Program
Manager for the Environmental Health Strategy Center.
EHSC employs seven people in offices in Bangor and Portland, and we are in the process of
hiring two more. We generate more than $1 million in economic benefit in Maine every
year. We’re part of the much larger nonprofit sector in Maine, which added $7 billion to
Maine’s economy in 2005, accounting for 15% of the State Gross Product. i
As a public health organization, we know that the greatest social determinant of good
health is a good job. ii That’s why five years ago we started our Sustainable Economy
Program, which works to create jobs and boost Maine’s economy by promoting the
research and commercial development of environmentally healthy products.
I am here today to speak in support of L.D. 842 (An Act to Authorize a General Fund Bond
Issue to Create Jobs from Farms, Forests, and Manufacturing through Research and
Sustainable Development of Maine’s Natural Resources; sponsored by Representative
Hunt). We have previously testified in support of LD 225 and LD 409, which would also
spur economic development by investing in Maine-based innovation through the Maine
Technology Asset Fund.
The best way to create jobs and stimulate economic growth is to leverage
capital investment in research, development and commercialization of clean
technology based on Maine’s natural resources.

For every $1 that Maine invests in research and development (R&D), more than $10
is leveraged in private and other public investment. iii

Public investment in R&D is a proven engine for economic development and job
creation. iv
We applaud Representative Hunt for proposing legislation specifically to fund clean,
natural resource based technology development and commercialization.
Environmental Health Strategy Center, Support of LD 842 - Committee on Appropriations, 2/23/12
Working with a consortium of Maine manufacturers and the University of Maine, the
Environmental Health Strategy Center has raised $2.5 million in R&D funding to develop
innovative technology to commercially produce bio-based plastics from the natural
resources of Maine’s farms and forests. Here’s an example of the economic development
potential. True Textiles, Inc. manufactures a fabric in Guilford, Maine made from a cornbased plastic called polylactic acid (PLA) that’s nontoxic, petroleum-free and compostable
at the end of its useful life. This bioplastic could be made from Maine potato waste and
wood chips. Attracting the capital investment to produce PLA in Maine from locally
sourced biomass would create 150 new manufacturing jobs and support the creation of
more than 600 related permanent jobs, plus spur 1,800 construction-related jobs. v
Today, under new ownership, the Old Town Fuel & Fiber mill is up and running again with
200 workers back on the job. The mill is applying innovative technology developed by the
University of Maine to extract sugars from wood in a way that preserves the fiber to allow
continued pulp production. These sugars are the feedstock for making bio-based chemicals
through an advanced fermentation process. Backed by a $30 million U.S. Department of
Energy grant and significant private capital investment, Old Town Fuel & Fiber will
construct a biorefinery to produce bio-based butanol, a fuel additive. This should mark the
first major forest bio-product to go to market in the U.S. and offers a model of sustainable
economic development in Maine’s pulp and paper industry. vi
Public investment in research and development made this economic success
possible. In addition to federal and private sector funding, the University of Maine was
awarded $4.7 in MTAF bond funding for its Forest and Agricultural Bioproducts
Technology Center. Continued state investment will boost development of bio-based
materials in Maine. Confidence in the economic potential of bio-based materials led to the
formation of a new trade association, the Sustainable Bioplastics Council of Maine, led by
45 members in 20 Maine companies.
Another innovative Maine company, Cerealus Holdings LLC, has pioneered a nontoxic, biobased alternative to the toxic chemicals known as perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) used
as grease-resistant paper coatings for food packaging. vii
Opportunities for job creation and economic development through clean, natural resource
based technologies abound. But they need critical infrastructure and R&D funding to
succeed.
To revive and expand our economy, Maine must invest strongly in innovation. We must
also target research and development spending to those sectors in which Maine has the
most sustainable advantages – such as natural resource based clean technologies.
Conclusion
In order to create jobs and improve Maine’s economy, this Committee and the Legislature
should pass a research and development bond bill to replenish the Maine Technology Asset
Fund to invest in commercializing clean technology based on Maine natural resources.
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Environmental Health Strategy Center, Support of LD 842 - Committee on Appropriations, 2/23/12
REFERENCES:
Maine Association of Nonprofits, Partners in Prosperity: The Maine Nonprofit Sector
Impact, (February 2008).
www.nonprofitmaine.org/documents/MaineNPSectorImpact2008_download.pdf
i
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, Social Determinants of Health (visited 10 February 2011)
http://www.cdc.gov/socialdeterminants/ and Marmot, M. (2005) Social Determinants of
Health Inequalities. The Lancet; 365: 1099-1104.
ii
Maine Technology Institute, Impact: Maine Technology Institute Invests in
Innovation to ensure a prosperous future for Maine,
http://www.mainetechnology.org/results/impact (visited 10 February 2011).
iii
Brookings Institute, Charting Maine’s Future: An Action Plan for Promoting
Sustainable Prosperity and Quality of Place (October 2006)
http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2006/10cities.aspx
iv
Tides Center/Environmental Health Strategy Center, Sustainable Bioplastics Council of
Maine, The Business Case for Commercial Production of Bioplastics in Maine: A
Preliminary Report, submitted to Maine Technology Institute (March 2010)
v
Forest Bioproducts Research Institute, University of Maine, FBRI Partners: Old Town:
Red Shield Makes Biorefinery Plans, (visited 10 February 2011)
http://forestbioproducts.umaine.edu/fbri-partners/red-shield-acquisition-llc/
vi
Cerealus Holdings LLC, Sustainable Solutions: HoldoutTM, http://www.cerealus.com/
(visited 10 February 2011)
vii
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