Investigating the effect of forest per capita on explaining the EKC hypothesis for CO₂in the US

Abstract

This paper investigates the net effect of forest resources on the emission of CO2 while testing the EKC hypothesis for CO2 at the county level in the US. Using a county-level data obtained from the Vulcan Project and employing a weighted lag-dependent variable of CO2 emissions, an inverted-U-shaped relationship between income and emissions of CO2 per capita is detected in the US. However, the estimated income turning points (ITPs) are slightly higher than the average income per capita but are within an attainable range, suggesting that further economic growth would be a viable environmental policy to address the emissions of CO2 in the US. The estimated net effect of forests resources on the emissions of CO2 suggests that forest fires and degradation dominate the carbon sequestration capacity of standing forests in the US.