Candidate proud of blowing $40 on a scam

Tom Knapp to run ‘carbon-neutral’ congressional campaign

“It’s just the right thing to do,” says Knapp, 41, of Greendale. “Every politician I see out on the stump has big plans for addressing climate change … but those plans never seem to include leading by example. I want to look back in November and know that I was part of the solution rather than part of the problem.”

Knapp arrived at his campaign’s estimated carbon footprint by running projected travel mileage and electricity use through several online footprint calculators. “Then,” he says, “I added a fudge factor to account for things like printing and shipping of campaign materials.” He purchased a six ton Verified Emissions Offset credit for about $40 from a firm which in turn invests in emissions-reducing projects such as generation of electricity from landfill gas in Illinois. He plans to revisit his calculations in October and purchase additional offsets if necessary to maintain carbon neutrality.