As far as I know, wind energy is greenest in terms of being a renewable resource and environmental impacts. It isn't the least cost alternative presently, but like Dogfish posted, as technology advances, production costs (in this case for turbines) come down. I visited the federal wind energy research center in Boulder, CO a year ago last fall. Engineers there think they've got wind turbine blade design about as good as they'll ever get. So wind cost effectiveness depends on lower manufacturing costs and generally rising energy prices.
Regarding government subsidies for wind energy, the amount may be different, but all energy sources are subsidized in one way or another. So energy subsidies becomes a "pick your poison" choice if you're opposed to subsidies.
A lot of wind farms are sited on private ranch lands, where wind energy becomes the highest economic use of the land in comparison with the pre-existing use as grazing land, which can continue with the loss of only the tiny wind turbine footprint.
The ugliness of wind turbines is subjective, but I can't say they are any uglier than hydropower dams, nuclear plants, gas or other fuel combustion turbine generation plants, coal plants, or acres and acres of solar panels. The production of energy isn't pretty, but everyone wants energy, and everyone wants it at a price below the true market cost of producing it. I guess energy is another one of those, "this ain't Burger King; you can't have it your way" examples.
Fred calls wind energy a crock because when the wind doesn't blow, energy production stops. That's true. Not all energy sources run 24/7/365. Combustion turbines do (oil, gas, coal, nuclear). Wind, sun, and hydro don't. Yeah, I included hydro because hydro output varies daily and seasonally, project by project, depending on precip conditions in the respective watersheds. It would be nice if wind turbines ran all the time because that would greatly improve their economic status in the lineup of energy alternatives. A more constructive way to think about wind is as one component of an energy company's overall resource portfolio. The major private utility in WA is PSE, and they have various resources that includes: hydro, coal, combustion turbine, and wind. That's more complicated for operations, but it's provides the best overall combination of system reliability and price.
Sg