[idiotsecant]

Viability is not just 'do the physical materials exist'. Building transmission in the US is almost entirely impossible at scale because he have no political will to do so and it's a regulatory nightmare. We can't just bury an entire mountain valley under 300 feet of water or evict a county of people to make room for a project like China can.

Ignoring the hard part and saying the aluminum exists is not even wrong, it's counterproductive. Until you solve the political component the materials might as well all be sitting on pallets in a warehouse, it doesn't help any.

[ben_w]

Indeed; my example is intended to illustrate that the expense you experience isn't entirely necessary, but rather it is in a large part simply what America* chose.

* assuming I guessed the correct continent when you wrote "the west coast".