It is your $40 billion, however...when you see huge green lawns in deserts like central CA or Phoenix you should also see the enormous subsidies that are being

It is your $40 billion, however...when you see huge green lawns in deserts like central CA or Phoenix you should also see the enormous subsidies that are being handed out. If those that lived in deserts paid the real cost of water (not the public-monopoly regulated price), I suspect there would be a LOT fewer lawns. The same argument applies to the suburban sprawl: if those that decide to live 50 miles from the city center had to pay the real cost of building 6 lane highways to their "communities," few track houses would be built. Instead, an entire state or country splits the bill for roads and we get inefficient land use. // end rant;