title: Political influences on greenhouse gas emissions from US states.
abstract: Starting at least in the 1970s, empirical work suggested that demographic (population) and economic (affluence) forces are the key drivers of anthropogenic stress on the environment. We evaluate the extent to which politics attenuates the effects of economic and demographic factors on environmental outcomes by examining variation in CO2 emissions across US states and within states over time. We find that demographic and economic forces can in part be offset by politics supportive of the environment--increases in emissions over time are lower in states that elect legislators with strong environmental records.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Environmental Science and Policy Program, Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823; tdietz@msu.edu.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dietz
authors.affiliation: Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823;
authors.forename: Kenneth A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Frank
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Environmental Science and Policy Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823.
authors.forename: Cameron T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Whitley
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Environmental Science and Policy Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Environmental Science and Policy Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kelly
mesh_terms: D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D058735:Environmental Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005740:Gases / Q000032:analysis; D017752:Greenhouse Effect / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011057:Politics; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D005740:Gases; D002245:Carbon Dioxide
keywords: STIRPAT; environmentalism; greenhouse gas emissions; human drivers; multi-level models