but why don’t they ever advocate for a solution that seems obvious?

They do. All sorts of climate scientists have been telling us to cut emissions since the 1970s.

If we truly are heading towards a catastrophe, then that means we should reduce our energy expenditure massively, start scaling back unnecessary production, start actively scrubbing carbon, stop the deforestation for cattle farming, and so on.

As a person who directly works alongside liberal scientists, I can tell you with 100% certainty that this is also what the liberal scientists want. The problem with liberal scientists is not that they do not understand the science behind climate change, but they don't understand the politics behind it.

And you’re left there wondering “Wait a minute, but you’re driving the car, why don’t you just stop?”

Scientists are not driving the car. I am not saying that if they were, we would be living in utopia, but bourgeois politicians are big fans of ignoring the advice of scientists, except for when it suits them.