John Edwards is going to great lengths to outshine other Democratic candidates with an very strong environmental platform. On the 2008 campaign trail, this blue-collar defender has declared himself as a bleeding-heart greenie.

Edwards is the first candidate to call for an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and the first to make his campaign carbon neutral, Edwards has had a pied-piper effect on the other Democrat contenders, prompting them to make similar pledges. He has also set himself apart with his call for a freeze on all development of coal power plants until they can be outfitted with carbon sequestration technology. But the former senator from North Carolina runs with the pack in his enthusiasm for corn ethanol, and his green mantle is a fairly new accessory.