B.C.'s widespread pine beetle infestation shows just how damaging climate change can be, the new leader of Canada's Green party says.

The beetle has already killed most of the pine trees across the B.C. Interior, and has spread to Alberta. Scientists have warned that the beetle could spread through the boreal forest across the country.

The mountain pine beetle has devastated forests across much of B.C.

Elizabeth May calls the beetle epidemic "a disaster of our own making," and says the federal government should  do everything it can to slow down climate change.
 
"I'm not sure that for instance, the government of Stephen Harper understands that the loss of billions of dollars of economic activity, an epidemic that may have killed as many as 80 million trees, at this point is a climate change impact.

"It's just one of those major nasty shocks of early climate change impacts which is going to have a devastating impact."

May says many experts recognize that only a return to colder winters will stop the spread of the beetle, something she says the Conservative government doesn't seem to grasp.

"The lesson learned is climate change impacts are no joke. You wonder, how could this government be so short-sighted when we're reeling from the impacts of the pine beetle outbreak?"

May says that while her party doesn't have an official policy on the pine beetle, the Greens wants to cut greenhouse gases while helping Canadians anticipate and adapt to their impact.