Which side is that, exactly? On one hand we have big oil and pretty much every industrial polluter globally, and on the other hand we have academia which "lines their pockets" by finding ever more questions that need answering, and stoking fear of social or environmental collapse to generate those questions.

Now, I personally know which side I trust more. However, if the lens is "who is lining their pockets" well, I am not sure that's really enough.