VANCOUVER - The B.C. cabinet minister in charge of the 2010 Olympics says the carbon emissions that will be generated by transporting the torch across Canada beginning next month is worth it to build excitement for the Games.
Olympic organizers have boasted that the 2010 torch relay is the largest in the history of the Games.
The Olympic flame will travel by air, land and water through every province and into the Far North, starting in Victoria on Oct. 30 and covering 45,000 kilometres over the next 106 days.
The David Suzuki Foundation estimates the relay will generate about 1,500 tonnes of carbon emissions.
B.C.'s minister of state for the Olympics, Mary McNeil, says that impact is worth it to include all of Canada in the build-up to the opening ceremonies in February.
Vancouver organizers have committed to making the Games - including the torch relay - carbon neutral by purchasing carbon offsets for at least 110,000 tonnes of emissions.
The total impact of the Games is estimated to be about 300,000 tonnes, and Olympic officials are encouraging sponsors, competing nations and spectators to cover their share.
