SUSTAINABILITY, cilt.14, sa.17, 2022 (SCI-Expanded)
Economic growth has significantly boomed carbon emissions in the global economy. However, there is an ongoing debate about the economic growth-carbon emission nexus for various economies in the literature. This paper investigates the short/long-term causal information flow between fossil-fuel-related carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) and economic growth (GDP) in the US economy spanning from 1800 to 2014. Using wavelet-based-nonparametric Granger causality analysis, the empirical results indicate that (i) the long-run causal information flow running from GDP to CO2 is positive, strong, uninterrupted and concentrated since the 1990s; (ii) the reverse causality is positive but interrupted, short-term and intensifying during the early 1990s. Due to strong and very long-term unidirectional causality findings, economic growth leads to environmental deterioration. Hence, for policymakers, environment-based growth policies and structural reforms can foreshadow energy-efficient policies by limiting carbon emissions. Hence, sustainable economic growth policies are expected to decelerate environmental problems and promote environmental sustainability. The findings can be attractive for other booming economies.