It's not your imagination. There are more dead trees in Colorado this year than ever. This beautiful state of high peaks, forests, clear streams and blue sky; this was a paradise. But we are increasingly living in a tinderbox. One in 14 trees is dead in Colorado forests according to the Colorado State forest service's annual survey released last February. This is an increase of 30 percent since 2010.
Why are there so many dead trees? Apparently the mountain pine beetle and the spruce beetle, the insects that kill these trees, used to be kept in check by our long cold winters. But no more.
We need to pay attention here. We are at risk of destroying the very things that sustain us. Do you know that 80 percent of Coloradoans rely on forest watersheds for their drinking water?
Global warming is real and it is in our backyard. We need to urge our lawmakers to take action.
What do we need? I think the best idea out there is the Carbon Fee and Dividend plan that is being promoted by the Citizen's Climate Lobby, https://citizensclimatelobby.org. It is bipartisan and practical. It will help us develop clean energy and move away from fossil fuels without lots of government regulation.
Please encourage our members of Congress (Rep. Scott Tipton and Sen. Cory Gardner) to support the carbon fee and dividend. It's a free-market solution that will address climate change.
Deborah Lycan
Durango
