International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Article The Impact of Efficacy, Values, and Knowledge on Public Preferences Concerning Food–Water–Energy Policy Tradeoffs Najam uz Zehra Gardezi *, Brent S. Steel and Angela Lavado School of Public Policy, Oregon State University, 300 Bexell Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA; bsteel@oregonstate.edu (B.S.S.); lavadoaa@oregonstate.edu (A.L.) * Correspondence: gardezin@oregonstate.edu; Tel.: +1-54-1727-2811 Received: 12 October 2020; Accepted: 7 November 2020; Published: 11 November 2020   Abstract: Food, water, and energy (FWE) policies often entail contentious tradeoffs. For example, increasing food production may involve irrigation from riparian sources that may adversely impact fisheries habitats, the siting of solar energy on agricultural lands can impact food production, and increasing food production capacity may require pesticides in certain locations, resulting in environmental pollution. Because public preferences are an important component of support for and opposition to FWE policy design and implementation, it is important to understand the correlates of support and opposition to FWE policy tradeoffs. Using survey data from random household surveys conducted in western U.S. states during 2018, this study examined how environmental efficacy, values, and knowledge affected FWE public tradeoff preferences. The findings suggest that these characteristics do affect public FWE tradeoff preferences, with knowledge being a strong driver of support for food production over biofuels, water friendly crops over meat production and conservation over water intensive agriculture. Additionally, environmental efficacy and pro-ecological attitudes drive support for access to safe drinking water and sanitation over food security for a growing population. Keywords: environmental values; environmental efficacy; food–energy policy tradeoffs; food security; energy access 1. Introduction Recent studies have highlighted the competing needs for land and water resources in the production of food and bioenergy [1,2]. Rising energy prices and concern over emissions from fossil fuels have led to a shift in the use of some traditional food crops (e.g., soybean, corn) for fuel, resulting in concerns over food security [3]. Moreover, there is concern over the impact of agriculture on the quality and quantity of water available for societal needs [4]. Such tradeoffs have become particularly salient due to global trends in climate change and population growth. Food security, energy access, and environmental degradation are now central concerns in the policy discourse on sustainable resource management. The past decade has also seen a considerable emphasis on a nexus approach toward achieving sustainable management of food–water–energy (FWE) resources [5–7]. In particular, climate change adaptation strategies highlight the need for an integrative framework to balance potential tradeoffs across the three resource sectors [8,9]. Interlinkages across these sectors create competition in resource use such that demand pressures on one sector can change the availability of another resource in another sector. The interconnections between water and energy have received significant attention and there are concerns that the limited availability of fresh water may restrict the type and scale of Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 8345; doi:10.3390/ijerph17228345 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph