A recent Guardian article by George Monbiot called carbon capture a costly distraction, but leading climate scientists and industry figures have pushed back hard. In a series of letters, Oxford professor Myles Allen and representatives from the Carbon Balance Initiative and Clean Air Task Force argue that basic physics makes carbon capture inevitable. Since the world will continue generating more CO2 than the atmosphere can safely hold, capturing and storing it underground is the only way to halt global warming. The defenders also agree with Monbiot on one point: taxpayers should not foot the bill. They propose a 'producer responsibility' model that forces fossil fuel extractors to store a rising percentage of the carbon their products generate, aiming for 100% by mid-century. The UK's Jackdaw gas field is highlighted as a test case. For heavy industries like cement, which accounts for 8% of global emissions, CCUS remains the only viable path to decarbonization. The UK's first cluster projects are already underway, supporting billions in supply chain activity and thousands of jobs.
