This definitely feels like academics squabbling with those in an associated research area over who gets the tiny sliver of funding trickling in to them while vastly more resources are directed elsewhere to actively harmful pursuits. Their beef should be with fossil fuel subsidies, or at least the people in the geology department being funded to figure out better fracking methods. I just can’t see a world where money spent on reef restoration work is actually the critical issue hindering key climate work.
Beyond that, the “maybe reefs will just adapt” message near the end seems way more dangerous to a healthy climate than any issues they danced around with coral restoration. That’s exactly the argument made by the polluters and much more seductive to policymakers than coral restoration.