The carbon-wealth link
https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/bcnews/nation-world-society/sociology/schor-jorgenson-carbon-emissions-study.html[font face=Serif]Friday, April 7, 2017
[font size=5]
The carbon-wealth link[/font]
[font size=3]Across the U.S., state-level carbon emissions are higher in states where income is more highly concentrated among the wealthiest residents, according to a new study by two Boston College researchers.
On a global level, the connection between national wealth and carbon emissions has been well documented. The study, by sociologists Andrew Jorgenson and Juliet Schor, is the first to link income inequality and carbon emissions within and across the individual states.
The study found that state-level emissions between 1997 and 2012 were positively associated with the income share of the top 10 percent of a states population, according to the findings, published online by the journal Ecological Economics.
Using the 2012 state data for carbon emissions, and based on the statistical analysis reported in the research article, a one percent increase in the income share of the top 10 percent of a states population resulted in additional annual carbon emissions, led by:
- Texas 812,325 to 934,174 metric tons
- California 437,035 to 502,590 metric tons
- Pennsylvania 284,980 to 327.728 metric tons
- Florida 269,030 to 309,395 metric tons
- Illinois 261,170 to 300,966 metric tons
- Ohio 260,622 to 299,716 metric tons
- Louisiana 246,618 to 283,611 metric tons
- Indiana 232,886 to 237,819 metric tons
- New York 196,234 to 225,670 metric tons
- Michigan 184,835 to 212,560 metric tons
[/font][/font]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.12.016