Would People in Idaho Gladly Pay More for Green Energy?

No!  There are a great many cultural differences between Switzerland and the United States.  There are many cultural differences across regions of the USA.  The BBC is sharing a story from Switzerland, where green power was substituted for “fossil fuels”.  It increased the cost for electricity in homes and there was an even steeper increase in prices for businesses.

I’m not terribly familiar with British writing style and some of the European terms for subsidies and power allotment but I gather the Swiss don’t want to go back to the era of cheap electricity.  I think the story suggests the Swiss have decided the price increase is worth it when you stack it up against climate change.  By the way, a lobbyist once told me climate has been warming since the end of the last ice age, which could suggest the planet would warm with or without the burning of oil.

Americans, in my opinion, are a different breed.  First, we have more weather extremes than Central Europe.  The Dakotas routinely see temperatures over a 12 month span swing 160 degrees.  Not every year, but often enough.  Americans pay far less for gasoline than heavily taxed Europeans.  We also live in a big country.  Alaska, Texas and Montana aren’t conducive to passenger rail.  Maybe from one end of Austin to another but from Corpus Christi to Amarillo it’s quite a haul.  And there isn’t much in between many of these communities.  Rail isn’t economical.

Idaho shares most of the same geographic obstacles I’ve listed among the other states mentioned.

Americans remember their ancestors twice bailed out Europe in the last century.  And to this day, our country is the guarantor of European sovereignty.  A friend in Denmark once told me it’s why we aren’t always liked in his homeland.  He also admitted my point was accurate.

For many of these reasons, many of my countrymen and women believe we’ve already done our part for humanity and we want some recognition and rewards.