Nat Gas is a lot “cleaner” in every way than the alternatives, and has a vastly smaller “footprint” than solar or wind. People forget the up-front CO2 “load” of “alternative energy” infrastructure. There are TCO (total cost of ownership) analyses, on a CO2 basis, where Nat Gas is the lowest.
Coal is essentially carbon with some pollutants such as sulfur and oddly some radioactive elements. One atom of Carbon when burned creates 1 molecule of CO2. One molecule of natural gas (CH4) creates one molecule of CO2 and two molecules of H2O and also creates more energy on a pound for pound basis. Natural gas is clean and CO2 is plant food. Coal can be burned cleanly in a modern power plant. I have no problem with coal. However, the Chinese coal powered plants are not clean burning and spew many toxins into the air. I care not about their CO2 but do care about the toxins the Chinese plants put into the air.