Absolute Decoupling in the United States After 2015: Declining Emissions With Economic Growth

The United States is historically the largest cumulative emitter of greenhouse gases, responsible for approximately 25% of all historical CO₂ emissions since the Industrial Revolution (IPCC, 2021).The United States' trajectory since the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and the 2015 Paris Agreement has attracted significant attention, as Democrats have generally favored participation in such international climate accords while Republicans have often resisted or withdrawn due to economic, regulatory, and sovereignty concerns.This commentary investigates whether the Paris Agreement marked a turning point in U.S. carbon intensity, testing the hypothesis that the United States experienced accelerated absolute decoupling after 2015, with CO₂ emissions Online