#Autosprawl has been subsidized by deferring maintenance

Resource Insights: "The trouble with infrastructure is that it breaks down and needs to be repaired, it wears out and needs to be replaced, and it gets destroyed and needs to be rebuilt. All that requires energy, resources, labor and money."

The US has extensive infrastructure supporting autos and sprawl. Farmland has been turned into suburbs. This spreading requires a lot of expensive pipelines, bridges, and roads. The repairs of such things have been deferred, while home builders and oil companies took profit. Now, the bill is due and there is no cheap oil to borrow against.