Maybe, if they play their cards right.

When it comes to clean energy, most envision drawing solar power across the vast deserts of the Southwest. Or perhaps wind farms across the plains and off the craggy, blustery shores of the Northeast. And now Buffalo, New York, with its rich ties to America’s industrialized past, may also soon become synonymous with wind power generation.

This opinion piece in the Buffalo News by Bill Nowak, executive director of Buffalo's Green Gold Development Corp., thinks that the region is uniquely positioned to become a vibrant wind-driven economy and grow jobs. Of course, he paints quite the rosy picture given his ties. Nonetheless, the combination of his ideas, along with an infrastructure that seems predisposed to making this transition, does merit some attention.

Take, for instance, his "E" bullet-point from his WET SOIL acronym:

EXAMPLE: Steel Winds is the largest urban wind farm in North America. The eight turbines on the old Bethlehem Steel site provide monumental advertising both for our wind resource and for the potential that exists for renewal on our urban waterfront brownfields. Any manufacturer looking to make a clear, progressive statement to markets far and wide recognizes the benefit of being associated with this project.

As a pre-eminent example of brownfield reuse, this project has been written up in publications from Reader’s Digest to the New York Times. For the time being, thanks to progressive political leadership from the City of Lackawanna, Steel Winds gives Western New York a huge leg up in the race to establish our regional identity as a hotbed of green activity.

Brownfields are abundant in the U.S., especially in the regions that ring our cities. Can you think of a better use for many of these sites?

Also, I’ve driven past Steel Winds and while they pale in numbers to some of the wind farms I’ve seen out west, it's indeed inspiring to see in an urban setting. Plus, now I know what they're called.