Vote Green in Saranac Lake
To the editor:
I want to inform your readers that Budweiser Brewing Co. has signed a deal with Tesla Motors to purchase a fleet of hydrogen-fueled, long-haul delivery trucks. Everyone knows Budweiser, but what is this hydrogen fuel thing? Actually, it’s a profoundly engaging topic and one that has much local significance.
Two elements — hydrogen and oxygen — naturally combine to make water. But water can also be easily split apart when subjected to electric current (electrolysis). This back-and-forth flexibility has important ramifications. It is nothing less than a solution to the fossil fuel dilemma.
Getting back to Budweiser, these long-haul delivery trucks will be fueled with hydrogen, which will be converted to electricity via a fuel cell. This is a 100% clean process. China, Europe, Australia and Canada are all making huge investments in green hydrogen production as a clean alternative to fossil fuels.
We’re blessed here in the North Country with an abundance of clean, renewable power. There’s the hydroelectric dam in Massena, wind power near Dannemora and soon here in our own backyard a fine photovoltaic array. In fact, we have our own dam and a lake full of water behind it, should that prove advantageous to develop. Still, the problem with green energy has always been that demand is not constant. If only there was a way to store the extra power produced when demand was low, eh? Problem solved! Hydrogen can be produced and stored, and easily converted back to electricity, just like Budweiser is doing with its new fleet of long-haul trucks.
The demand for hydrogen fuel could provide huge economic benefit for our cash-strapped village. We have all the ingredients for a game-changing new development. We have abundant clean energy, we have an industrial park location, we have a climate crisis motivating us to change, and we have a local economy that sorely needs diversification. Yet here we remain with a tourism-based economy, and poor as door mice.
Why is our village economy so distressed? We have no one in the village government who can see beyond the lure of quick tourism dollars or the exploitation of our natural resources as an economic base. But tourism dollars don’t provide a sustainable living for the average village resident. Every year we have to go to the state with our hands out for grants to keep our infrastructure in repair. No, the tourism-based economy serves only the few. We need vision, leadership, imagination and even a bit of derring-do from our village government. We have none of that. Instead, we have a staid, stratified and complacent village administration, content with putting flowers on the walkways while the real threats, and opportunities, loom.
We will soon be able to put a voice of sensibility on the board. In September, Fred Balzac will be on the ballot as the Green Party candidate. His understanding of our situation and his care for the well-being of our local working families, elderly and the disadvantaged make him the best candidate to take up the responsibilities. We will shortly face very serious issues, yet there are options, and there are potential solutions if we can find the right leadership. Let’s elect Fred Balzac to the village board in September and begin the work to prepare for the future.
Sincerely,
Stephen McAuley
Saranac Lake
References:
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/budweiser-beer-nikola-hydrogen-electric-semi-truck/