Wind energy is a big carbon reducer. It cut 28 million cars' worth of carbon dioxide emissions last year alone. Wind is currently on track to produce 20 percent of the country's electricity by 2030. If it hits that goal, it cut overall electric sector emissions by more than 20 percent.
The vast majority of wind turbines don't use use direct-drive trains, and therefore they don't use any rare-earth materials.
The average wind turbine also generates electricity 90 percent of the time. The reality is that no energy source generates electricity 100 percent of the time, and wind has a capacity factor on par with coal and some types of natural gas. It also has a far-higher capacity factor than other types of natural-gas turbines or solar.
Thousands of people worldwide live near wind farms with no ill effects.