Do mineral rents endowment and agricultural raw material imports determine natural resource management in the United States?

Abstract

The scarcity of natural resources is an issue that affects many countries around the world. Mineral rents and agricultural raw material imports have a large impact on the availability of these resources. Natural resource management is the practice of using natural resources such as water, land, soil, plants, and animals for the benefit of society. This paper examines the impact of mineral rents, and agricultural raw materials imports on natural resource management in the United States from 1975 to 2020, using textile clothing, alternative energy sources, and CO2 emissions as control variables. The results show that textile clothing, mineral rents, alternative nuclear energy, and CO2 emissions are statistically significant at 1%. Textile and clothing production, alternative and nuclear energy, and CO2 emissions are all activities that can hurt natural resources. In contrast, evidence suggests that mineral rents can positively influence natural resource rents. Implementing efficient production processes and technologies is essential for reducing resource use. At the same time, governments must create incentives to encourage using more sustainable resources. This could include tax incentives for companies that use sustainable resources or subsidies for developing more efficient production processes. The best way to address the scarcity of natural resources is through careful management of mineral rents and agricultural raw material imports. Finally, policymakers must ensure that the benefits of the imports outweigh the costs to the environment and natural resources and encourage only sustainable resources to be used, and that production processes are designed to minimize resource use.