[atoav]

I am not sure you are very aware of european infrastructure projects. The current tunneling projects alone won't find ongoing equivalents in the US as far as I know.

But maybe we should talk about rail, because that is apparently going splendidly in the US.

[throw__away7391]

I am aware, but in the US entire states have practically been paved over with suburban sprawl. It is not simply a matter of roads, it's the whole package required when everyone has to drive to go anywhere. You need more parking, more lanes, more space between all buildings which further increases the distance that everyone and everything needs to travel, all infrastructure is more expensive from electric to sewage. In my apartment in Europe I can grab something from the store and be back on my sofa in a few minutes (unless it's Sunday) or stop in on my way home effortlessly, in the US this takes at least 20 minutes to go out, or at a minimum a special stop, finding parking, etc. The extra time it takes to go shopping plus having the car to cary a lot of stuff means people buy more at once, in large stores with parking lots the size of European villages. Many people have a second refrigerator in their garage to store extra food--homes which are larger, more aggressively heated/cooled than their European counterparts and filled with an endless barrage of stuff, Americans are always buying things for their homes until they're full. Even with the larger homes, extra storage space is a big industry in the US. The cars are larger on average in the US, driven more, meaning more fuel burned, more accidents, more wear and tear on vehicles and the roads themselves.

I usually spend only a few weeks a year in the US but every time I visit I'm struck by home much energy and resources are expended on rather mundane everyday activities. I don't think most countries could afford to live this way.