Recently, there was an instructive exchange over at the Volokh Conspiracy between Eric Posner and Jonathan Adler on the causes and implications of the observed negative correlation between a country’s wealth and its impact on the environment. To be precise, this is not a simple linear correlation; it’s actually more of an inverted-U shaped curve, but it’s clearly an empirical refutation of the I-PAT hypothesis (environmental impact = population x affluence x technology) that was in vogue in the 1970′s. Posner and Adler (and Posner again) discuss the potential causes of this relationship (specifically, the role of government institutions) and whether the same pattern will arise in the global warming context. Well worth reading.
