In my hometown we built a wind turbine on the top of a mountain that overlooks the city. On clear days you can see the turbine poking out on top of the mountain and it looks absolutely gorgeous, like we're an advanced species intelligently harvesting energy from the planet. It's breathtaking in a way that's hard to describe.

My comment just mentioned the aesthetics of wind turbines and I still maintain they are no more ugly than a smokestack, city tower, bridge, radio antenna or even regular old suburban development that seldom get cancelled because of aesthetical concerns. What's so special about wind turbines that we hate how they look more than any other kind of development?

This argument holds for noise too: all the references I could find suggest wind turbines are far quieter than other forms of development. In my experience wind turbines aren't obtrusively loud at all. In my city we've installed a wind turbine at the top of a popular mountain and I can't remember ever distinctly hearing it, even within a couple of km[0]. The same cannot be said about highways or other development.

0. Grouse Mountain, overlooking Vancouver. I even think the wind turbine looks incredibly beautiful when you see it peaking up from the top of the mountain.

https://www.grousemountain.com/media/W1siZiIsIjIwMTcvMDEvMzA...