Over the last 20 years as the severity of climate change has increased, progress toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions has stalled as a result of political gridlock. While researchers have studied the effects of many institutional variables on a wide array of environmental outcomes such as greenhouse gas emissions, my paper is the first to consider the impact of political donations. I examine the effects of political contributions on clean electricity production using a panel data set for U.S. states from 2001 to 2018. Using Jordà projections, I find that overall donations are a significant short- and long-term driver of clean electricity production. Donations to Democratic politicians and donations attempting to sway politicians away from their ideological positions have especially strong effects. This result contributes to the discussion surrounding the effectiveness of political donations; researchers still have not reached a consensus regarding the impact of donations on voting behavior, but donations clearly can affect environmental outcomes through legislative mechanisms. Additionally, it highlights a mechanism that has the potential to both aid and hinder the transition to clean electricity production necessary to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
"},{"label":"Degree","value":["Bachelor of Arts with Departmental Honors"]},{"label":"Author-supplied Keywords","value":["Clean electricity production","Political donations"]},{"label":"Administrative Note","value":"Drupal Node ID: 24119