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Political Institutions and Pollution: Evidence from Coal‐Fired Power Generation
Author(s) -
Clark Richard,
Zucker Noah,
Urpelainen Johannes
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
review of policy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1541-1338
pISSN - 1541-132X
DOI - 10.1111/ropr.12356
Subject(s) - coal , politics , democracy , air pollution , power (physics) , pollution , natural resource economics , economics , political economy , economic growth , political science , development economics , engineering , waste management , law , ecology , chemistry , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , biology
What is the relationship between political institutions and air pollution generated by the power sector? Here we focus on the association between democracy and power generated from coal, the most polluting of all fossil fuels. Using a new dataset on coal‐fired power plants commissioned between 1980 and 2016 in 71 countries, we find that the relationship between democracy and coal varies according to the environmental Kuznets curve logic. Democratic political institutions at lower levels of economic development are correlated with increased commissioning of coal power plants, as governments seek to appeal to an electorate prioritizing economic growth and affordable energy access. As a country becomes richer, democracy comes to have a negative association with coal power, as clean air becomes a more salient issue for the public.