wri the weight of nations 107 overview united states is a huge country geo graphically and largest economy in world it so rich productive land mineral resources that can extract or har vest within its national borders over 90 percent by raw materials requires each year only small fraction these exported balance remains form build ings other infrastructure durable goods 2 billion metric tons deposited into environment 23 1 immense input output flows gener ated us are dominated energy related hidden associ with coal mining emissions co from fossil fuel combustion account for 50 total domestic tdo overburden minerals soil erosion caused agriculture earth moving construction make up another 24 quantities fell slightly two decades 17 to 16 3 this change occurred despite dramatic shift
