Daley challenges other campaigns to reduce carbon footprint

Green Party candidate, Dr. Scott Daley
News Release

**********************

The campaign for the Nipissing-Timiskaming Green Party candidate, Dr. Scott Daley, is issuing a challenge to the other campaigns in our area to reduce their footprint and go “carbon negative.”

Recognizing that the best way to deal with pollution is not to pollute in the first place, we realize that despite our best efforts, every campaign has an impact on the environment. Signs, brochures and buttons all cost energy to produce, and every party’s candidate will produce a significant amount of greenhouse gases as they drive to debates and go out to meet the voters.

In order to attempt to balance the carbon impact of our campaign, we have picked a reputable Canadian company, Carbonzero, to purchase carbon offsets from. It’s called going carbon neutral. We will estimate the total amount of CO2 produced by canvassing, driving to debates, and in the production of our flyers and signs. The estimated greenhouse gases produced will be offset by reducing greenhouses gases emissions elsewhere.

Carbonzero (www.carbonzero.ca) is a gold-certified carbon offset company that reduces greenhouse gas production by landfill methane capture and energy retrofits to subsidized housing in Quebec. These projects are funded through the sale of carbon offset credits. This is compatible with the Green Party’s vision of social, economic and environmental sustainability.

We are even taking this a step further - we pledge to go carbon negative. For every ton of CO2 produced during our campaign we will purchase carbon offsets for two tons. And Dr. Daley has also pledged to personally match the offsets purchased by his campaign.

We are extending the challenge to go carbon negative to all other local candidates. The national campaigns for the Bloc Quebecois, NPD, Liberal and Green parties have already agreed to go carbon neutral.

We are also challenging the other candidates to reduce their impact on the environment by limiting the amount of signs they use, using generic party signs with stickers that can be used in multiple elections and printing campaign materials on FSC certified paper with the highest content of post-consumer waste possible.

Greener campaigns should be the goal of every political party, and we hope all candidates are successful in reducing their environmental footprint.

**********************