Candidates "Support Climate Change", Pump Out Carbon

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John McCain and Barack Obama call climate change one of the biggest challenges facing the world, and both pledge major reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide, if elected.

To spread that message, though, the two campaigns are pumping thousands of tons of the global warming gas into the atmosphere.

On a single, two-hour flight from his hometown of Chicago to Washington, Obama's 757 emits an estimated 19 tons of C02, about as much as the average American is responsible for producing in an entire year.

For McCain, a four-hour flight from his Arizona ranch to Washington on his Boeing 737 emits an estimated 34 tons of C02, almost twice as much as the average American.

"Air travel is so carbon intensive. It takes a lot of energy to get a big plane off the ground," said Billy Connelly, marketing director for Native Energy, a renewable energy firm that has worked with political candidates to reduce carbon emissions from campaign travel.