How Ugly Are Wind Turbines?

My wife and I had dinner last night with fine friends, a married couple who never disappoint us with their conversation; they’re both extremely well-rounded and intelligent people who care deeply about the plight of their fellow travelers here on 21st Century Earth. But sure enough, the guy brought up a topic that I recalled from a previous conversation: wind turbines are ugly.

I’m always a little surprised when well-educated people carry on like this. To me, it goes without saying that our wide-open spaces are more attractive in their virgin state. But we need to understand that a wind farm of 1000-or-so machines provides as much electricity as a coal-fired power plant. As in most of our dealings, it comes down to the trade-offs we’re willing (or unwilling) to make. In my book, lung cancer is uglier than wind turbines. So are climate change, ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity, etc.