Letter to the editor: Maine is well-positioned to lead in biobased products
July 8, 2015 |
Everyone in Maine agrees we need good jobs, and this article correctly highlights one industry with great potential – biobased manufacturing. “Biobased” means making products, materials and fuels out of plants instead of petroleum. In Maine, this means using our abundant biomass from forest, farm and sea. With business members like Grow-Tech, and other members that can help provide research and development support, like the University of Maine, Biobased Maine is committed to helping Maine businesses respond to the global demand for biobased products – and creating good manufacturing jobs in the process.
“The recent Portland Press Herald article “Biobased products seen as vital for Maine’s growth” (June 21) shines a light on Maine’s emerging biobased industry.
Everyone in Maine agrees we need good jobs, and this article correctly highlights one industry with great potential – biobased manufacturing. “Biobased” means making products, materials and fuels out of plants instead of petroleum. In Maine, this means using our abundant biomass from forest, farm and sea.
Citing the recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report that Maine has the third-highest concentration of jobs in “biobased products,” the article also quotes U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, who says we can rebuild rural economies by going biobased….”
Read the full letter to the editor here. This piece was published in the Portland Press Herald.