Developing spatial inequalities in carbon appropriation: A sociological analysis of changing local emissions across the United States

•Theories of place and space are synthesized to explain shifts in local CO2 emissions.•Conceptual distinctions are made for CO2 emitted locally by use and exchange activities.•Spatial regression models with two-way fixed-effects are used to test derived hypotheses.•Results show development decouples use and exchange emissions spatially over time.•Implication: development shifts carbon emissions in as well as between nations.

This study examines an overlooked dynamic in sociological research on greenhouse gas emissions: how local areas appropriate the global carbon cycle for use and exchange purposes as they develop. Drawing on theories of place and space, we hypothesize that development differentially drives and spatially decouples use- and exchange-oriented emissions at the local level. To test our hypotheses, we integrate longitudinal, county-level data on residential and industrial emissions from the Vulcan Project with demographic, economic and environmental data from the U.S. Census Bureau and National Land Change Database. Results from spatial regression models with two-way fixed-effects indicate that alongside innovations and efficiencies capable of reducing environmentally harmful effects of development comes a spatial disarticulation between carbon-intensive production and consumption within as well as across societies. Implications for existing theory, methods and policy are discussed.