He already pleaded guilty, but then got hit with the maximum sentence (seemingly from pressure from people like Rick Scott). He’s still trying to fight it out legally and his friends put together a gofundme to help cover his legal fees, but a pressure campaign for a pardon doesn’t sound like a half bad idea either.
If done instead of reducing current emissions, 100%. That said, there is a real need to invest in carbon capture technology now so that it can be more useful in the future. It’s a small part of the overall strategy to improve our climate future, but an important one as we get further along in the century and emissions already are reduced. So, yeah, if people hold up this technology and say “see, let’s keep drilling”, fuck that. But as long as it’s an “and” not an “or”, this is a good thing.