IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp18008.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Carbon Rollercoaster: A Historical Analysis of Decarbonization in the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Clay, Karen

    (Carnegie Mellon University)

  • Jha, Akshaya

    (Carnegie Mellon University)

  • Lewis, Joshua

    (University of Montreal)

  • Severnini, Edson

    (Boston College)

Abstract

This paper documents the evolution of US carbon emissions and discusses the main factors that contributed to the historical carbon emissions rollercoaster. We divide the discussion into four periods – up to 1920, 1920-1960, 1960-2005 and after 2005. For each period, we discuss the main drivers of national carbon emissions. We then discuss trends in carbon emissions in the electricity sector. Electricity sector emissions were initially very small, but would become the largest source of US carbon emissions over the period 1980-2015, and the largest contributor to decarbonization since 2007. In the final section, we distill lessons from the U.S. experience that may inform decarbonization strategies in developing economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Clay, Karen & Jha, Akshaya & Lewis, Joshua & Severnini, Edson, 2025. "Carbon Rollercoaster: A Historical Analysis of Decarbonization in the United States," IZA Discussion Papers 18008, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp18008.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dale W. Jorgenson, 1984. "The Role of Energy in Productivity Growth," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 11-26.
    2. Gerben Bakker & Nicholas Crafts & Pieter Woltjer, 2019. "The Sources of Growth in a Technologically Progressive Economy: The United States, 1899–1941," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(622), pages 2267-2294.
    3. Joskow, Paul L, 1985. "Vertical Integration and Long-term Contracts: The Case of Coal-burning Electric Generating Plants," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 33-80, Spring.
    4. Paul Joskow & Nancy L. Rose, 1985. "The Effects of Technological Change, Experience, and Environmental Regulation on the Construction Cost of Coal-Burning Generating Units," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 16(1), pages 1-17, Spring.
    5. Christopher R. Knittel, 2006. "The Adoption Of State Electricity Regulation: The Role Of Interest Groups," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 201-222, June.
    6. Henriques, Sofia Teives & Borowiecki, Karol J., 2017. "The drivers of long-run CO2 emissions in Europe, North America and Japan since 1800," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 537-549.
    7. Davis, Joseph H., 2006. "An Improved Annual Chronology of U.S. Business Cycles since the 1790s," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 66(1), pages 103-121, March.
    8. Tol, Richard S.J. & Pacala, Stephen W. & Socolow, Robert H., 2009. "Understanding Long-Term Energy Use and Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the USA," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 425-445, May.
    9. Andrew R. Waxman & H. R. Huber-Rodriguez & Sheila M. Olmstead, 2024. "What Are the Likely Air Pollution Impacts of Carbon Capture and Storage?," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(S1), pages 111-155.
    10. Lucas W. Davis, 2012. "Prospects for Nuclear Power," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(1), pages 49-66, Winter.
    11. Devine, Warren D., 1983. "From Shafts to Wires: Historical Perspective on Electrification," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(2), pages 347-372, June.
    12. Victor R. Fuchs, 1980. "Economic Growth and the Rise of Service Employment," NBER Working Papers 0486, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Hausman, William J. & Neufeld, John L., 2002. "The Market for Capital and the Origins of State Regulation of Electric Utilities in the United States," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 62(4), pages 1050-1073, December.
    14. Gilbert E. Metcalf, 2008. "An Empirical Analysis of Energy Intensity and Its Determinants at the State Level," The Energy Journal, , vol. 29(3), pages 1-26, July.
    15. David, Paul A & Wright, Gavin, 1997. "Increasing Returns and the Genesis of American Resource Abundance," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 6(2), pages 203-245, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kitchens, Carl T. & Jaworski, Taylor, 2017. "Ownership and the price of residential electricity: Evidence from the United States, 1935–1940," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 53-61.
    2. Arik Levinson, 2017. "Energy Intensity: Prices, Policy, or Composition in US States," Working Papers gueconwpa~17-17-04, Georgetown University, Department of Economics.
    3. Lovering, Jessica R. & Yip, Arthur & Nordhaus, Ted, 2016. "Historical construction costs of global nuclear power reactors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 371-382.
    4. Kyle C. Meng, 2016. "Estimating Path Dependence in Energy Transitions," NBER Working Papers 22536, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Gray, Rowena, 2013. "Taking technology to task: The skill content of technological change in early twentieth century United States," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 351-367.
    6. Paul David & Gavin Wright, 1999. "Early Twentieth Century Productivity Growth Dynamics: An Inquiry into the Economic History of Our Ignorance," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _033, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    7. David Prentice, 2012. "The rise of the US Portland cement industry and the role of public science," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 6(2), pages 163-192, May.
    8. Field, Alexander J., 2009. "US economic growth in the gilded age," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 173-190, March.
    9. Alexander J. Field, 2023. "The decline of US manufacturing productivity between 1941 and 1948," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(4), pages 1163-1190, November.
    10. Mulder, Peter & de Groot, Henri L.F., 2012. "Structural change and convergence of energy intensity across OECD countries, 1970–2005," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 1910-1921.
    11. Paul A. David & Gavin Wright, 1999. "Early Twentieth Century Productivity Growth Dynamics: An Inquiry into the Economic History of "Our Ignorance"," Oxford University Economic and Social History Series _033, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    12. Valadkhani, Abbas & Smyth, Russell & Nguyen, Jeremy, 2019. "Effects of primary energy consumption on CO2 emissions under optimal thresholds: Evidence from sixty countries over the last half century," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 680-690.
    13. Santosh Kumar Sahu, 2014. "Energy Use Patterns and Firm Performance: Evidence from Indian Industries," Working Papers 2014-092, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    14. Yao, Yao & Ivanovski, Kris & Inekwe, John & Smyth, Russell, 2020. "Human capital and CO2 emissions in the long run," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    15. Damron, Will, 2025. "Gains from factory electrification: Evidence from North Carolina, 1905–1926," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    16. Robert J. Gordon, 1992. "Forward Into the Past: Productivity Retrogression in the Electric Generating Industry," NBER Working Papers 3988, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Inekwe, John & Ivanovski, Kris & Smyth, Russell, 2023. "Human capital and energy consumption: Six centuries of evidence from the United Kingdom," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    18. Peter Mulder, 2015. "International Specialization, Structural Change and the Evolution of Manufacturing Energy Intensity in OECD Countries," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3).
    19. Santosh Kumar, Sahu & K., Narayanan, 2011. "Energy Intensity and Firm Performance: Do Energy Clusters Matter?," MPRA Paper 43457, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Thomas Lyon & Nathan Wilson, 2012. "Capture or contract? The early years of electric utility regulation," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 225-241, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • N72 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • Q31 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18008. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.