ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the economic phenomena and public policies that influence important interactions among agriculture, natural resources, and US environment. It focuses on how critical aspects of natural resources and the environment relate to the functioning and performance of the US agricultural and food system. The chapter examines agriculture's role in renewable energy, and then reviews some major climate change considerations. From an economic theory standpoint, weak sustainability means that a manager can easily substitute one resource input for another within a production function. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) both have done yeoman's work in conducting, organizing, and publishing an impressive record of professional research in the applied areas of agricultural, natural resource, and environmental economics. The 2015 Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) study emphasizes that climate change likely represents the most severe threat to the stability of global and local ecosystems.
