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The USA is huge, and individual states are huge. San Francisco and Los Angeles are both in California, but you’re not going to do a day trip from one to the other.
Our beer is great! Probably stay away from the big brands (unless Sierra Nevada is considered a big brand — they’re still great IMHO). Try to find something from a local brewery — it can be hit or miss, but more fun than finding one you like and sticking to it.
We have a lot of social services that aren’t necessarily through the federal government. Food banks come to mind — some are “proof of assistance required,” others are open to anyone who feels they need the service. There is not afaik a single interface for navigating these services though, so it can be a real pain, from what I’ve heard. But services often do exist, if you have the time to track them down.
Libraries! Free wifi is common.
If you don’t like it here, try a different part of the country. Rural town in the south is completely different than a “blue city.”
It’s government-owned land but it’s generally free to use for camping. The USA is very big.
My city has a fleet of vintage streetcars that it runs on standard routes (i.e., it’s not just a tourist novelty — and it’s the same cost as bus and other light rail).
It’s always a joy to ride those and read the history of the individual streetcar — they all wear fun livery.
Our home averaged 7.5kWh/day in December (we did not travel and we’re home with family the entire time); this is about 10x less daily energy than the battery capacity of a modern EV.
Now, we have gas heating and stove/oven, so that adds a huge amount of load — but my numbers above are for 24hr energy, and batteries wouldn’t need to supply that whole time.
Of course, this doesn’t address cost, and it doesn’t address natural resources, like you mentioned. But that actual required amount of energy per capita can certainly be achieved with current battery technology.
The exorbitant PG&E charges are usually “delivery charges,” not the “generation charge” iirc. So we’re paying reasonable rates for cheap, clean energy, but we’re getting charged out the ass for getting the electricity to our home.
It sucks either way, but charging for delivery sucks more because on top of it all if we run solar and sell back to the grid we only get the generation charge (which is minimal). At least, that’s my understanding — we don’t currently have a home solar installation.
Olive oil is delicious, and I’ve always loved acidic foods — so long as there’s yummy dressing on the salad, sign me up.
Just get in the habit of making simple dressing, e.g., EVOO, red or balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt & pepper. (Mustard helps with emulsification.) Yes oil is caloric, but afaik this is much healthier than drowning your salad in ranch or Thousand Island or whatever.
Olive oil can make you feel full, too, so even though you’re eating fat, it can be a net win.
A Mediterranean diet is delicious, vegetarian/vegan compatible and, I think, fairly healthy. But mostly it’s the delicious that counts.