The New York Times is sounding the alarm about New Jersey's pine beetle infestation, a little-noted but potentially disastrous threat to its forests that's almost certainly been caused by global warming. The insects have already destroyed tens of thousands of acres of pine forest in the state, and are expected to soon make their way north to Long Island and Cape Cod.

The best solution, according to a number of experts, would be to cut down some trees to allow the rest to thrive, but the counterintuitive-sounding tactic is having difficulty gaining approval among a public that has barely noticed there's a problem. There was an attempt to pass legislation permitting the state to pursue more aggressive tree-cutting, which was met by environmentalists with a provision that would require approval from an outside body, which was then vetoed by Gov. Chris Christie, who said he refused to allow the state to “abdicate its responsibility to serve as the state’s environmental steward to a named third party.”

Advertisement:

The state says it's working on a new, comprehensive plan, but for now isn't doing much more than treating outbreaks as they occur. The beetles, meanwhile, are continuing to overtake the Pine Barrens. More from the Times: