The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced final rules for the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas industry, one of the largest sources of methane, a potent global warming pollutant.

According to the EPA, the rule will cover 85 percent of the greenhouse gas discharges from the oil and gas sector and will require reporting by about 2,800 facilities.

The EPA’s action requires these sectors to annually report methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions from flaring, equipment leaks, offshore petroleum and natural gas production, onshore production facilities, liquefied natural gas imports and exports, and onshore transmission and distribution. The EPA also finalized rules requiring inventory and disclosure for large sources of fluorinated gases.

Inspiration abounds in America. Despite the problems and troubles of this expansive land, we have heroes, champions and everyday people who, day in and day out, rise above their circumstances to the inspire those around them and lead their communities toward change.

After all, that's the story of America, isn't it? At the heart of every great triumph in our nation's history is the story of everyday people who stood up and demanded better for themselves, for their neighbors, for their brothers and sisters, and for their fellow Americans.

Since I began working on Earthjustice's campaign to stop mountaintop removal mining, I've met teenagers who feel driven by the dream of saving the mountains of Appalachia for future generations. I've met husbands and wives who want to fight for clean water for their unborn children, grandparents who dedicate their retired days to preserve what's left of the rare wild places on earth, and former Marines who have found a new purpose—to ensure that their fellow Americans have access to clean water.

I've met mothers made ill from toxic waters, and who won't be held down—fathers and daughters who sacrifice to fight for what's right, and folks at the end of their lives who get out of bed every morning, despite the odds, to keep the fight alive. I've heard poets who have found the words others were seeking, singers who give voice to whole communities that struggle to be heard, and so many, many more.

It has never been more clear that this work to stop the destruction of mountaintop removal mining -- though it is a fight to save the environment—was never just about the environment. It has always been about the people. It has always been about the right to clean water. It has always been about the preservation of a way of life for people who live among the oldest, most biodiverse mountains on this continent. And it remains, still, about the health and future of our fellow Americans in Appalachia.

Today we launch a new campaign that aims to tell just a few of these mountain heroes' stories, the true and very real stories of five people who are living among the destruction of mountaintop removal and among the Appalachian mountains and waters that we need to save.

Starving grizzly bears are increasingly clashing with humans over food. Image courtesy of stock.xchng

Enviros and drillers become fracking bedfellows in regulator debate
New York's Department of Environmental Conservation is so ill-prepared to regulate gas drilling in the state that both the gas industry and environmental organizations agree that the department should be re-staffed, according to an investigation by the DC Bureau. That, in addition to a number of other environmental challenges that gas drilling presents, should make for quite a fracking mess for New York's next governor, Andrew Cuomo, when he arrives in the office on Jan. 1.

Department of Agriculture takes the cheese
Fast food chains like Domino's Pizza and Taco Bell are piling cheese onto their products to boost consumer sales, all at the urging of the USDA, according to a recent New York Times piece. The agency's marketing creation, Dairy Management, charged with "vigorously promoting" dairy products, has been working with businesses to increase American cheese consumption by creating cheese-strosities like the Domino's Wisconsin, a pizza that comes with six cheeses on top and two stuffed in the crust. Apparently the agency didn't get its own memo, which found that when it comes causing obesity and heart disease, the cheese stands alone.

Martin Lakes, Texas coal-fired power plant

Oh, Texas. Why, oh why does Texas have to be the only state in the union refusing to comply with federal greenhouse gas regulations, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – following the law! – starts to regulate stationary sources of greenhouse gas pollution in January?

Given the fact that Texas is the nation’s largest emitter of greenhouse gas pollution from power plants, it’s really unfair to the rest of the country that the Lone Star remains so ... lone.

Last week, voters in California overwhelmingly rejected Proposition 23, a challenge to that state’s global warming law. And while California serves as the optimal role model for the rest of the country, Texas is the big-bad polluter vowing to undermine all federal regulations of clean air – while breaking the law to make its point. Texas has 21 operating coal plants and seven proposed coal plants (most in the nation), which will further threaten air quality for Texans. And it's a problem for residents in downwind and neighboring states.