Al Gore And CounterPunch Agree Carbon Capture Is A Scam — For Wildly Different Reasons
Both criticize CCS as ineffective, but experts agree CO2 is harmless and fossil fuels are worth defending.
by Linnea Lueken July 17, 2025, 10:10 AM
A recent article at the website CounterPunch titled, “Al Gore Puts Down ‘Climate Realism,’” responding to a TED talk given by Al Gore, says that carbon capture and storage and direct air carbon capture are “like fool’s gold,” which neither reduces the carbon content of the air to a meaningful degree nor does so in a cost-effective way. [emphasis, links added]
This is true, though not in the way or for the reasons CounterPunch writers articulated.
There are many nonsensical and false claims in the CounterPunch post; to address them all, we will focus on the post’s very interesting claims about carbon capture and storage and direct air capture.
CounterPunch writer Robert Hunziker says that one of the ways the fossil fuel industry tries to convince people that the fuels that built and maintain modern civilization are useful and good is by claiming that “carbon capture and storage and direct air capture and recycling of plastics will handle everything.”
https://climatechangedispatch.com/al-gore-counterpunch-carbon-capture-scam/
