The problem with renewable energy is area, they all take up too much land,(reply>), Coal mines destroy far too much land that is scenic and valuable to wildlife, flora, and human recreationists.  I live in Oregon, and thankfully we don't have acres upon acres destroyed by open pit mining. We have millions of acres that are wild and protected–as a hiker I love that.<br><br>We also have a lot of wind turbines, but all the wind plants I see are built in less scenic land, away from major recreation areas or wildlands. I don't mind passing by a few wind turbine farms, but seeing coal mines would look plain ugly. Of course, we have our own set of problems. Much of our forests are plagued by logging and clear cuts; ugggh! (Although, on a road trip or hike you are less likely to notice them.)<br><br>Many coal mines in the U.S. usually tend to be built on mountain tops in the Appalachian Mountains. Cutting off the tops of mountains is worse than a few wind farms being built in less scenic land.,(reply>), There's plenty of land. If you ever fly, just look out the window. The vast majority of land is not being used for anything.,(reply>), You misunderstand exactly how much land there is then.,(reply>), Then why does nobody complain that roads take up too much land? Certainly they use more than wind farms.,(reply>), Timelines my friend. Coal is a one and done thing. that wind turbine is going to go the distance.