Empirical studies which explicitly examine the link between popula- tion and pollution in a systematic quantitative manner are very few in number. Cramer (1998, 2002) and Cramer and Cheney (2000) examine the impact of population levels on air pollution in California and conclude that population is closely associated with some sources of emissions but not with others. Cramer’s and Cramer and Cheney’s focus on a single state in a developed country is interesting, but it also means that the global impli- cations of their work are uncertain. Dietz and Rosa (1997) and York, Rosa and Dietz (2003a, b) focus on carbon dioxide emissions and energy use and, in the.
