An environmental challenge from the local Green Party candidate hasn’t been taken up by his competitors in the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding.

Donovan Cavers has promised Conservative, Liberal and New Democrat candidates he will encourage his supporters to vote for one of them if their campaign produces only twice the carbon emissions as his.

While NDP candidate Michael Crawford, Liberal hopeful Murray Todd and Conservative MP Cathy McLeod admire Cavers’s effort to put the environment front and centre in the federal election, none is jumping at the offer.

Cavers has said he won’t have much time to dedicate to the campaign, which means his carbon footprint will be small, said Crawford, adding he’s in this to win it.

“We want to beat (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper,” he said.

But that doesn’t mean the Crawford campaign isn’t environmentally consciencious, he said. Many of Cavers’s suggestions — including car pooling, riding bikes to in-town forums, and using recycled paper — have been adopted by his campaign.

“It’s just smart. We’re trying to campaign as smart as we can,” said Crawford.

Todd finds Cavers’s proposition interesting but, given the shortness of the campaign and vastness of the riding, doesn’t see how he can do it.

McLeod likes the idea but wants to discuss fair terms. She said Cavers isn’t running an elaborate campaign and won’t have as big a carbon footprint.

“To tackle this challenge, we continue to negotiate,” she said, adding Cavers brings spirit to the campaign.

Cavers said climate change is the greatest challenge facing humanity and its important public figures lead by example.