On a BTU to BTU basis, Natural gas will emits less CO2 and other pollutants(NOx, SO2, HG, etc) than coal. But if you put in wind or solar, you would be emitting nothing, except a few dead birds.
Seems to me a lot of federal money has gone down the windmill financing these things. Lots of people in the US want to get rich. If the money was in the “renewables” they'd be out there making em.