Whitebark Pine

I know the Republican Tea Party members in the House are about to cause economic disruption.  I know raising the debt ceiling is important.  Nevertheless, I want to call your attention to the whitebark pine, a tree that grows in high altitudes in the America and Canadian west.  

It is on the way to extinction.  The mountain pine beetle attacks the whitebark pine, laying its eggs under the bark of the tree.  The tree, however, grows at high altitudes where the beetle has a hard time surviving.  Now, as the earth warms, the beetle is able to survive and attack the tree.  For an account from the Washington Post, go to <http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/whitebark-pine-tree-faces-extinction-threat-agency-says/2011/07/18/gIQA7tMcMI_story.html>.

Canada has already declared the tree species endangered.  Now the Fish and Wildlife Service has officially recognized that climate change is threatening the tree.  We are changing the global ecosystem.  If we recognized the problem and acted in a world-wide concerted effort, we might--might--be able to reverse or at least stabilize the warming.  But we aren’t doing that, are we?