Joe Manchin may go down in history as the man who didn’t have the guts to stand up when we were finally ready to take the necessary steps to head off climate catastrophe before it is too late.

For a year and a half, the West Virginia senator has held his fellow Democrats hostage — repeatedly negotiating in bad faith and forcing President Biden’s once-ambitious Build Back Better plan to be whittled down again and again to satisfy his ever-changing “concerns.”

Then, last night — when a deal was at long last within reach — Manchin walked away. Again.

Though just before I hit “send” on this note, Manchin suggested that perhaps he’s still open to a deal. Perhaps.

Of course, as has been widely reported, Manchin is not just a senator. He also owns a fossil fuel company from which he has amassed a sizable personal fortune over several decades.

So — unless Manchin reverses course and barring some Beltway miracle — there will be no major climate and energy legislation for the remainder of President Biden’s first term.

The United States will not do its part to keep global warming below cataclysmic levels.

Many other countries, following our lead (or lack thereof, more accurately) will also fail to meet that critical goal.

And our world — the only one we have — will continue cooking.

All because one man, Joe Manchin, refuses to do what is needed.*

Tell Senator Joe Manchin:

This is it. Your decision — right now — will literally affect all humanity for generations to come. We urge you to reconsider your abandonment of what was left of Build Back Better’s climate and energy proposals (which had already been scaled back multiple times to satisfy YOU). In fact, we beg you. We are begging you. Humanity is begging you. Do you hear?

Add your name now.

Thanks for taking action.

For progress,

- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen

*Yes, there are 50 Republican senators who share culpability. But their party long ago made clear its craven devotion to the fossil fuel industry, so we already knew how history would judge them. This was — and is — Joe Manchin’s moment.

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