An Analysis of Environmental and Economic Impacts of Fossil Fuel Production in the U.S. from 2001 to 2015

The production and burning of fossil fuels is the primary contributor to CO 2 emissions for the U.S. We assess the impact of producing coal, crude oil, and natural gas on the environment and economic well-being by analyzing state-level data from 2001 to 2015. Our findings show that coal production h...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inSociety & natural resources Vol. 32; no. 6; pp. 693 - 708
Main Authors Hao, Feng, Van Brown, Bethany L.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Philadelphia Routledge 03.06.2019
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Burning
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide emissions
Coal
Crude oil
Data processing
Economic analysis
Economic conditions
Economic impact
economic well-being
Economic wellbeing
Emissions
Employment
Energy policy
Environmental impact
Fossil fuels
Fuel production
Impact analysis
Income
Natural gas
natural resources-environmental sociology
Oil and gas production
Petroleum
Poverty
Production
United States > US
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:The production and burning of fossil fuels is the primary contributor to CO 2 emissions for the U.S. We assess the impact of producing coal, crude oil, and natural gas on the environment and economic well-being by analyzing state-level data from 2001 to 2015. Our findings show that coal production has led to more CO 2 emissions and no significant benefit to economic well-being. Crude oil production has a non-significant impact on CO 2 emissions but is related to a lower poverty rate, a higher median household income, and a higher employment rate. Natural gas withdrawals have a positive impact on median household income. We discuss these findings in the context of current U.S. energy policies and then provide directions for future research.
ISSN:0894-1920
1521-0723
DOI:10.1080/08941920.2019.1574044