U.S. agriculture's role in a greenhouse gas emission mitigation world: An economic perspective

Open Access

Abstract

This paper assesses the role of agriculture as potential source or sink for greenhouse gasses. The authors evaluate the impacts of international mitigation agreements on the agricultural sector. They discuss emission trading markets, the marginal cost of agricultural carbon sequestration versus non-agricultural abatement options, and the long term outlook for agricultures role. They suggest that the benefits of agricultural mitigation strategies may decrease over time as other industries develop low-cost technology for reducing emissions.