It's naive to suggest that the public has accepted climate change and even more so that it's anthropogenic. Once they do accept that, then the debate can move on to the difficult question of solutions, as you rightly point out; but for now, it's the deniers who make all the noise and stifle that much-needed debate.

Consensus is an important part of science, but it is not the only part. The scientific method is strong enough that the truth eventually prevails even if the current consensus is wrong (such as for your Einstein example). People who spread ignorance use the fact that consensus is not always correct to disregard it whenever it disagrees with their point of view. Hence "teach the controversy".

What amazes me is the guy's restraint when talking to these morons. It's impressive how he keeps his cool and repeats such clear explanations of basic arithmetic in the face of immense stupidity. His frustration lets him down a little at the end when he falls into the same trap of quoting a hypothetical rate if 1 cent per KB and then multiplying 0.001 by his kilobyte usage--which is exactly what Verizon is doing; but we can forgive that--he was tired by then!

The sad thing is that even if those idiots read every posting on this thread, they still wouldn't get it.