It's sad but a lot of people only pretend to care about the planet as cover for hating science and modern society, I've had similar conversations with loads of eco people. They want to unplug everything and when lots of people die then that's the price we pay because people are bad but they're good so they'll seamlessly transition to working the fields and will healthier than ever now modern medicine is gone..

When you look at the science carbon capture is a very well understood thing, it's also a great load balancing tech as it's possible to quickly switch between various powet levels so is an ideal use of excess generation capacity from renewables.

Taking carbon from the air is exactly what we need to do if we're going to put the breaks on climate change, I know a lot of people love gloating about how mother nature is purging the bad humans but I think most of us want the planet to remain habitable long term... Yeah the current tech is basic and complex but look at the first trains, first computers, first anything.

One really important thing that starting that ball rolling will do is establish the start of economies surrounding captured carbon, either disposal or use - ideally they later as it would make the tech much more desirable.

They're building a place in Washington state (lots of wind power) that turns captured carbon into jet fuel, going by the numbers switching to that would make long distance trips more economical in planes than by train or boat - and that's before you include the environmental impact of having a huge steel track laid across the whole country. It's also useful for various other Industrial uses and could help replace a huge chunk of current petrochemical usage, and that's only one chemistry there are endless other things that it can be made into, carbon is one of the most useful elements.

There are amazing eco things carbon capture can be used for too, burning excess biomas from managed green spaces and disposed items then capturing the carbon allows waste facilities to be very efficient and carbon negative - saving money on tax bills and saving the planet.