Aggressive investments in renewable energy production, energy efficient building retrofits and mass transit would revitalize the Maine and U.S. economies while reducing reliance on foreign oil, according to a report released in Portland today.

The report, written by professors in the Political Economic Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, calls for a $100 billion federal investment over the next two years into energy efficiency and alternatives through tax incentives, low-cost loans and grants. Such an investment, roughly equivalent to the cost of the economic stimulus checks sent to taxpayers earlier this year, would create two million jobs nationwide, according to the report.

Maine's share of that investment would be roughly $400 million, it says, would generate about 9,000 jobs. By encouraging spending on energy efficiency and alternatives, the investment also would reduce the need for expensive oil and keep energy spending flowing through the local economy, the authors said.

The report was released in Portland by the Natural Resources Council of Maine and several Maine business leaders who have expanded into the construction of wind farms, solar heat and hot water systems and home insulation and efficiency retrofits.