This comment in the D&C’s “storychat” on Brooks’ magic plan to “fix the county budget” was so good I feel compelled to present it to you here:

One of the the jobs of government is to make infrastructure investments that will offer returns with many kinds of benefits, sometimes for decades. Think Erie canal, railroads, highways and water systems.

Unfortunately, the rather basic idea of investing to get returns eludes Ms. Brooks. Inexplicably, a bus station plan that slows down increases costs for our mass transit system (such as it is) while spending tax $ to tear down a fully functional parking garage and the oldest buildings in a historic part of the city, has been a centerpiece of her efforts from her very first day.

The missed transportation investment opportunities caused by the misplaced focus on Ren Sq is particularly troubling when the price of oil seems to be exploring new heights with each passing week.

And while better mass transit would help tremendously, the budget deficit problem is much biggerr than that. As long as the local economy continues to shrink, all of the choices will be BAD and painful for the county, no matter who the county exec is after the fall election.

The difference between our area further emulating a shrinking Detroit or becoming more like a thriving Boston seems razor thin. Choices we make now could tip the balance one way or another.

How can we best use existing strengths to be well positioned in the areas of the economy that will most clearly be expanding in the future? Without a perfect crystal ball, every choice (including doing nothing)carries some risk but most people are putting green energy at or near the top of their top 3 list. There are so many parts to making, using, storing and distributing clean and sustainable energy that opportunity would appear boundless.

Could our historic strength in optics play a role? Splitting a water molecule to produce hydrogen using light is being studied in dozens of countries. It hasn’t been done successfully at anything near the scales required to be economic, but with further study especially with catalysts it could come to pass that man actually could get hydrogen from water using sunlight at an energy profits…. kind of like plants figured out how to do it 500million years ago.

More immediately, GRE has proposed using SOME of the genny hydropower to produce huydrogen from water using electrolysis –in other words ENTIRELY renewably– putting rochester on the emerging worlwide “hydrogen highway” in a way that is measurably advanced in the lack of fossil fuels needed. Like the african villages that skipped the copper wires and jumped to cell phones, lets make some bold moves here that are also sensible and practical.

(To minimize risk, investments should be modest in the begingnng and incremental with each next step measured and evaluated, clear low cost exit strategies for each peice always identified)

The county government could do much to encourage these steps and build on the local strengths in green energy our area ALREADY has going for it particularly fuel cell research, and other university level basic research. Other areas could be brought up to strength that would further add to this momentum. For example MCC, nimble and competant in many areas, has yet to get, use or study its first fuel cell, windmill or solar panel.

When business and young people are making locating decisions, would it help if we were “way out in front of clean energy technology development and implementation” or would a ginourmous bus station be more likely to do the trick? It seems we can’t afford to do both.

Who are you and how can we get you writing for RT???