Sad but true. But Manchin (and Sinema) can get away with their intransigence only because large majorities in their constituencies don't really appreciate just how dangerous climate change really is. It is, at its root, an educational problem. The fossil fuel industry, through its think tanks and lobbyists, has succeeded in casting doubt on the science, with the result that large portions of the electorate don't know what to believe. But reality has a way of busting through. Twenty years ago, the damage caused annually by climate change was costing Americans around 17 billion dollars a year. Now the price tag is closer to one hundred billion dollars a year. And in another two decades it could be over half a trillion dollars a year. The fact is, the warming of the planet is accelerating, and we are fast approaching tipping points in the natural system which, once passed, will be irreversible and will bring on widespread catastrophe. And we may get there sooner than most people think, if we don't change course immediately. The good news is that the technology needed to replace fossil fuels has already been invented. We just need to scale up its use.