Coal plants aren't profitable to run if they're required to retrofit for carbon capture, not many new coal plants are going to be built in countries that care about climate change (so requiring CCS on new builds has minimal utility), and there are a lot of political obstacles to shutting existing plants down or mandating these sorts of improvements.

Given those constraints, centralized capture is at least a plausible option that doesn't involve starting big fights with entrenched interests in coal-reliant states. Is it more efficient or more likely to work than direct capture? No. It is, however, politically possible and worth exploring.

Because "we can just capture carbon from the air" is a narrative that makes it sound like we don't have to sacrifice any part of our lifestyle to accomplish the goal of mitigating climate change. It's propaganda, pure and simple.

Essentially, the people in US politics who are willing to act on climate change are an extreme minority, regardless of what americans in general want.

Go ahead and try to make a law that makes coal less profitable without Manchin's support.

If you have a problem with that, welcome to the club. Unfortunately, if you want to change the game to make it such that it's easier to do the right thing, you ALSO have to get Manchin's support. In fact, to do some things would require the other party's support as well, and their SOP is to kill anything you push for, and has been since 2012.

Because most sources of CO2/GHG have alternatives powered by renewable electricity that are cheaper than the old way which involves generating than capturing the CO2.

e.g. burn gas to generate electricity and capture CO2, or just use renewables.

burn gas to heat things, or just use renewables and heat pumps

Still good to capture unavoidable ones like methane from pre-existing coal mines, wells and landfills.

Capture at the source is a product. Maybe with a maintenance contract.

Capture elsewhere is a service. Possibly a public service.

The financial math is different.

As with everything else, production happens in china consumption happens in USA. The system works.

More money to be made from government contract bidding.