Direct carbon capture is necessary if we want to have a shot at reasonable survival. Maybe it’s not top priority in late 2023 when we have so many easier and faster things to do and advocate for, but in long- or even mid-term we’re cooked without it even if emissions dropped to 0 today. In an eco-war economy the entire scientific community would be forced to make it work. Look up “warming in the pipeline”, 6 degrees within 100 years would be the result of only the ghg we have emitted to date and we’re not going to stop, like, ever.
Well, to my European eyes it’s not strange at all. These are some extreme takes but that’s how freedom of expression and press work. My European country has a politician with decades-long career who routinely claims democracy is a bad system, that women should not be allowed to vote etc. Luckily for us the man has near-zero actual power, but still, we can’t jail him for talking even if what he says is horrifying.