How Do Energy Price, Density, and Gini Changes Explain Biodiversity Outcomes? The Empirical Case of the United States

Abstract

Biodiversity is diminishing and will continue to do so in the coming decades as human-caused biodiversity changes occur in both the developed and developing worlds. Using data from the United States of America for a cross-section of 39 states in 2010, this study merged the aspects of energy economics and income inequality, aiming to explain biodiversity in the developed world and find that there are opposite effects at play. On the one hand, more energy density in a state has a biodiversity-diminishing impact, and higher energy prices protect biodiverse areas. On the other hand, the dynamics of income inequality have a surprising effect: the more unequal a state’s income has become in recent decades, the more biodiverse land is being protected. Thus, the rise in inequality is associated with more biodiverse land. Finally, this article discussed the linkages with the existing literature and provided policy recommendations.