In a press conference Tuesday that was tightly controlled by her top press aide, Hillary Clinton refused to take questions about her campaign's pledge to go 'carbon neutral.'

The Clinton camp made the promise to CNN on Tuesday morning, following a DailyMail.com story featuring video of the candidate climbing aboard a carbon-spewing private jet shortly after adding a climate-change plan to her White House bid.

Clinton traveling press secretary Nick Merrill carefully stage-managed the 13-minute press conference in Nashua, New Hampshire following a town hall meeting at an elementary school.

Merrill hand-picked reporters and called on them by name, including one chosen so Clinton could wish her a happy birthday.

SPEAK NO EVIL: Hillary Clinton turned and walked away on Tuesday when faced with a question about how her 2016 presidential campaign will be 'carbon neutral'

CARBON MONSTER: The Dassault Falcon 900B business jet Clinton flew on yesterday burns 347 gallons of jet fuel per hour. She's seen here entering the plane Monday in a light blue pantsuit)

GATEKEEPER: Nick Merrill, Hillary Clinton's traveling press secretary (top left, shown Monday in Iowa), controls her media events and decides which reporters get to ask questions

DailyMail.com attempted to push the event off-script. 'Are you going to go carbon neutral by flying private less, or by just giving money to carbon offset funds, Secretary Clinton?' we asked. 'How are you going to go carbon-neutral?'

Clinton said nothing, but turned and walked slowly away from her podium with Merrill and other aides following close behind.

Monday's two-hour, 15-minute flight from Des Moines to Manchester, New Hampshire burned an estimated 781 gallons of jet fuel, producing 8.24 tons of carbon emissions.

The French-made Dassault business jet burns 347 gallons of fuel per hour.

The claim of carbon neutrality would not be a first for a major federal election campaign. Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign did the same thing.

'This campaign will be carbon neutral,' a Clinton aide told CNN Tuesday morning. 'We'll be offsetting the carbon footprint of the campaign and that includes travel.'

Clinton spoke glowingly on Tuesday of her own effort to inject global-warming politics into presidential politics, insisting her solution 'will be the best climate change proposal in this presidential campaign.'

I don't know what my Democratic colleagues are proposing,' she told reporters. 'But at least on the Democratic side we're talking about climate change, and on the Republican side they're acting like it's not an issue.'

CLASSY: The 66-foot-long plane Hillary flew on yesterday can reach 51,000 feet above the ground at speeds as fast as Mach 0.84

Clinton said the next president would need to 'really deal with what we can do to try to make a strong stance against climate change, and for the United States to lead the world.'

But she wouldn't acknowledge the need to provide specifics about how that might mesh with her frequent trips on fuel-guzzling private jets.

Commercial 'offsets' can be purchased on the open market for prices averaging about $6.00 per 1,000 pounds of carbon emissions.

For that fee, firms like Terrapass will guarantee that an equivalent amount of greehnouse-gas emissions has been 'captured' – usually by converting animal waste or landfill garbage into energy instead of letting methane escape into the atmosphere.

Other carbon-offset companies issue credits against existing wind-power projects, essentially accepting extra payments for commercial projects they already have in development.

That's the route Clinton took in 2007.

A press release back then announced that her organization would be 'purchasing carbon offsets,' along with 'buying 100 percent recycled paper products; recycling paper, glass, cans and cardboard; installing motion-controlled lights to reduce energy when offices are not in use; and locating its headquarters next to a subway station to encourage staff to use public transportation.'

CAPACITY CROWD: Clinton held a town hall meeting Tuesday at Amherst Elementary School in Nashua, New Hampshire

TROUBLE: Linda Tripp, a major figure in the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal that almost brought down Bill Clinton, told DailyMail.com on Tuesday that Hillary 'must NEVER be president'

Clinton's brief press availabilityTuesday in Nashua followed a familiar format, one that can preclude questions from reporters who are not on the campaign trail every day currying favor with her aides.

DailyMail.com shouted a question halfway through the event, asking the candidate if she planned to take questions from journalists who weren't pre-selected.

A visibly upset Merrill turned and said, 'Oh, come on! That's ridiculous.'

'No it's not,' came the reporter's reply. 'Prove it.'

Merrill did not respond to a request for comment on Monday about the video that launched the controversy.

That footage rocketed around the world even faster than the Mach 0.84 top speed of the Clinton campaign's most recent ride.

The 15-second clip showed Clinton boarding the jet in Des Moines, Iowa, shortly after unveiling her climate-change plan.