So does this mean that the learned elites were wrong about CO2 all along?
Of course not. It's just that the C02=bad mantra was getting old and it's really hard to get taxpayer funded research grants with an old mantra. So, presto, new mantra: c02=forgotten, methane & soot=new menace. New mantra=more billions from the taxpayers in research grants.
“So does this mean that the learned elites were wrong about CO2 all along?”
Bingo! Don’t know about elites, but journalists like Borenstein, who have sucked-up to and parroted the Global Warming party line for years, are perhaps trying to find a way to walk backwards on the subject without admitting their stupidity.