State and Trends of the Carbon Market 2007 (PDF; 349 KB)
Source: World Bank
From press release:

The seventh annual World Bank carbon market intelligence study, released today at CARBON EXPO, shows that the global carbon market tripled in 2006—to US$30 billion from US$10 billion in 2005. The market was dominated by the sale and resale of European Union Allowances (EUAs) at a value of nearly US$25 billion. The projects-based market in developing countries and in countries with economies in transition grew sharply to US$5 billion in 2006, more than doubling over the previous year.

US$8 billion in new resources for developing countries have been generated through the Kyoto Protocol Mechanisms since 2002, the report states. The market report estimates that direct carbon purchases have leveraged an additional $16 billion in associated investments supporting clean energy in developing countries since 2002.
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According to the State and Trends of the Carbon Market 2007, the developing world has contracted one billion tons of greenhouse gas emission reductions and is on track to bring an additional billion tons to the market by 2012.

Radioactive Report Card 2007 Issued to the U.S. Department of Energy (PDF; 105 KB)
Source: Alliance for Nuclear Accountability
From press release (PDF; 102 KB):

Leaders of groups representing communities downwind and downstream from U.S. nuclear weapons facilities today issued a “Radioactive Report Card” assigning low grades to the Bush Administration’s Department of Energy (DOE) bomb production and cleanup programs.

The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) gave DOE an “F” in “Budget Priorities” and a “D” for “Environmental Compliance.” ANA did, however, award DOE a B+ for “Public Relations Rhetoric” commenting that “High-sounding promises about health, safety, environment and national security are not being fulfilled.”

Each ANA grade came with a recommendation for “improvement needed” by DOE, such as “Tell the truth. Obey the law. Deal honestly and openly with the public.”

+ Background Information (PDF; 377 KB)

Energy and the Environment: Myths and Facts
Source: The Manhattan Institute

At least since the energy crisis of the early 1970s, the United States has wrestled with the difficult question of how best to ensure an adequate energy supply while protecting the environment. Today, this question continues to play a role in our political debates. Whether and how public policy might reduce reliance on imported oil, encourage lower-emission vehicles, or spur the development of new or cleaner sources of power are all regular matters of public discussion and concern.

It is in this context that the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Energy and the Environment offers this publication. It is predicated on the belief that wise and prudent policies in these areas require a well-informed citizenry—one well versed in the facts. With that goal in mind, the Center sought, with the help of survey research conducted by Zogby Associates, to determine what Americans believe about energy and environmental issues. We report here on the answers given by 1,000 Americans, chosen to be representative of public opinion generally, on matters such as the sources of U.S. energy supply, the extent of the oil supply, the rate of global warming, and trends in atmospheric pollution. Our poll was taken at a time—the summer of 2006—when, because of a sharp increase in the price of gasoline, public interest in energy and environmental issues was particularly keen.

The survey found that the views that Americans hold about a wide range of these issues are, in key ways, inaccurate. Significant numbers of people appear to misunderstand such crucial matters as:

• The types of fuel that are the main sources of energy
• The main uses of energy supplies
• Which countries supply the U.S. with the most oil
• The extent of oil reserves
• The rate of global warming
• The terms of the Kyoto Protocol international environmental treaty
• The environmental record of nuclear power plants
• The extent of urban air pollution
• The effects of conservation and increases in energy efficiency