The great US emissions migration

Migration of U.S. residents across counties impacts energy consumption and, as a result, the environment. This paper leverages county-level migration data, structural energy consumption estimation techniques, and the AP3 environmental damage model to estimate the emissions impact of migration by county over time. Migration is found to have reduced U.S. environmental damage by $213 billion over the period 1991-2019, with average annual environmental benefits of $15 billion in the 1990s but-$2 billion in the 2010s. The paper also finds a significant reduction in the cost of emissions from energy consumption over time. (JEL Q51, Q56, J11, R23, Q48)