Over the years I’ve worked with scientists and engineers who were acknowledged experts in their field. They often got into arguments with one holding X opinion and the other holding a different opinion on the same thing. Who is right on the lab theory? I don’t know. But several times I’ve seen that they get funding in such a way that they can’t disagree with whatever the politics are if they want to keep getting funding. This is so far in the weeds that the ordinary people can’t know who to believe.
In my experience, when two experts hold differing opinions on a scientific topic, it's because the science is not advanced enough in that area to know what the real answer is. And the real answer probably has elements of both opinions.