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I was listening to the radio at lunch today and one of the segments was about going green and how people would do it if it was convenient.  While I think that is a huge reason as to why people don’t, I think the biggest factor is the investment cost it takes in going green.  Of course utility and oil companies do all they can to prevent the switch to being cost effective, which given the nature of their business is justifiable.  This is where the government on all levels needs to grow a pair and stop caving.  I know it’s hard to say no when your pockets are fleeced, but this just further strengthens the argument that government doesn’t have the best interest of the people in mind. I’ve looked several times into solar electricity for the house, and the investment is ridiculous.  You would think everyone in Arizona would run off of solar; we have sun for 300+ days a year.  That’s plenty to keep batteries charged for the days where there is no sun.  Even in places that don’t have the luxury of that much sun, solar seems like a great way to at least subsidize regular energy consumption, but utility and oil companies would lose big money and they can’t have that even if it is better for the planet, not to mention other industries where the savings on power would be spent.  In fact, I’m a little surprised that we haven’t seen other industries champion solar power more as they would probably see increased profits from the extra expendable cash people had would be spent elsewhere. As I was sitting here typing this, I became even more enthralled with the idea of going solar/electric as in the event of a grid collapse, it wouldn’t be all that difficult to power your own house/electric car from home.  Everyone has used a magnet in science class to power a light bulb (or if you didn’t your school sucked), so taking that knowledge and just going on a larger scale in an emergency you would be able to live pretty normally for a short period at least.  The sun probably isn’t going anywhere (and if it does you have bigger worries) so your house shouldn’t be affected if the grid went out, and if you run an electric car you should be able to generate enough electricity using a little gumption and effort to be able to travel at least short distances.  I think this is one issue I really need to look at again, if not just from an economic standpoint, but from a prepper standpoint as well.  The idea of being self-sufficient as possible with the direction society is headed is one I think we should all look a little more into.