Researchers have found that U.S. states with more environmentally conscious citizens are likely to have cleaner air.
A team of scientists at Michigan State University carried out a study to see whether state-implemented environmental initiatives can reduce the effect of adverse human factors, like economic affluence and population growth.
Using techniques designed by Kenneth Frank, a professor of sociometrics at the MSU Foundation, as well as methods developed over the years, the researchers sought to determine the effects of environmentalism and politics. According to results, environmental activism may bring about benefits on the state level.
"Environmentalism seems to influence politics and how well policies that are in place are actually implemented, and it also influences individual behavior and the choices people make," said Thomas Dietz, a social scientist and an author of the study.
Data on greenhouse gas emissions from all 50 states since 1990 were compared, factoring in how the emissions correlated with environmentalism, employment rates, gross state product per capita and population. The value for environmentalism was measured via the environmental voting record of a state's congressional delegation, as rated by the League of Conservation Voters.
The influences jointly brought about by affluence and population were deemed as central to environmental stress, with levels corresponding to the increase in emissions of carbon dioxide every year. Alternately, an increase in environmentalism by just one percent also has the tendency to result in reduced emissions that more than make up for the usual yearly growth in emissions.
The study also noted that different states employed different measures to mitigate emissions, but all had substantial impact, even when a unified national policy was not present. This means that regulations can be pursued at varying degrees of strictness, because in the end, they will all have benefit the state.
Dietz also pointed out that understanding activism is an important first step toward gaining a better understanding of the different kinds of environmental stresses. He believes this lays down the foundation needed for further study.
Cameron Whitley, Rachel Kelly and Jennifer Kelly also contributed to this study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. These researchers are part of the Department of Sociology at the MSU's Environmental Science and Policy Program.
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