Politics driving efforts to reduce biodiversity conservation in the United States

Gwenolé Le Velly (), Philippe Delacote, Rachel Golden Kroner, Derya Keles () and Alexander Pfaff
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Gwenolé Le Velly: CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier
Rachel Golden Kroner: Betty and Gordon Moore Center for Science and Oceans, World Wildlife Fund - R.N.I. Lago Preola e Gorghi Tondi
Derya Keles: BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, Chaire économie du climat - Chaire économie du climat
Alexander Pfaff: Duke University [Durham]

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Abstract: Despite global calls to raise protection for nature, efforts proliferate to reduce the extent of, and restrictions in, protected areas (PAs) via legal changes to downgrade, downsize, or degazette PAs (PADDD). Protected area downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement studies have considered the tropics, despite significant data and relevance for the Global North, and focused on fixed proxies for economic opportunity cost. Given important political dynamics, we focus instead on the U.S. and shifts in political representation. We examine 2001-2018 federal PADDD events in the U.S., using panel data to control for all fixed factors. We study how elections that shift representatives and senators affect U.S. PADDD. Indeed, shifts at district, state, and national levels appear to influence PADDD. Specifically, shifts that put Republicans into office raised risks for PADDD events, especially proposals. Our empirical results highlight shifts in political power as an ongoing challenge to conservation, even after the establishment of protected areas.

Keywords: conservation policy; elections; political economy; protected areas; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-env and nep-pol
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Published in Ecology and Society, 2024, 29 (3), ⟨10.5751/es-15338-290327⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04704372

DOI: 10.5751/es-15338-290327

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