Human civilization has always made concessions in the name of progress, and as we've progressed, the concessions we're willing to make have changed.
There certainly are environmental (and human) costs associated with producing electricity from solar energy, but the costs between that and coal production and combustion are not exactly the same.
I hope there will be a day when the production of conventional PV will be a concession we're no longer willing to make because something even better has been developed.
In the meantime, in a discussion about the socialized costs of coal and whether that's being fairly factored into arguments about its price, I think "but solar..." is a bit of a red herring. Relevant, but only barely.
There certainly are environmental (and human) costs associated with producing electricity from solar energy, but the costs between that and coal production and combustion are not exactly the same.
I hope there will be a day when the production of conventional PV will be a concession we're no longer willing to make because something even better has been developed.
In the meantime, in a discussion about the socialized costs of coal and whether that's being fairly factored into arguments about its price, I think "but solar..." is a bit of a red herring. Relevant, but only barely.