EPA recently launched a new interactive spreadsheet designed to help local governments evaluate their greenhouse gas emissions.  This tool makes calculating emissions easy and customizable to your community.  Two separate modules allow for community-wide inventories and/or local government operation inventories, and both calculate emissions for various sectors such as residential, commercial, transportation, and waste and water management.  The spreadsheet provides pre-programmed emission factors and system assumptions or you may enter municipal-specific information depending on your needs.  The results of this tool allow local governments to create an emissions baseline for sustainability planning, communicate with stakeholders and elected officials, and partner with other municipalities to create a regional inventory.  To see if this simple approach is appropriate for your local government visit the Develop a Greenhouse Gas Inventory page for case studies, resources and next steps.  To download the Local Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool, visit the EPA website here.