This isn't about who could beat who or necessarily who is more powerful, this is about who would do the best job defending Earth from all possible threats in a comic universe.
The candidates are:
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Superman
Thor
Hal Jordan
Silver Surfer
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Please list who you think would be the best protector of the planet and why.
The point of the topic if I understand it correctly is essentially that regardless of power which one of the above is the best hero. Honestly if you took away all their powers the fact remains that Superman is the most heroic of them and the one who's hands you'd trust your life in. Superman time and time again has been the one to save Earth from innumerable threats, hell his concept defended all of existence from the End of Stories.
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“Where the longleaf pines are whispering
to him who loved them so.
Where the faint murmurs now dwindling
echo o’er tide and shore."
-A Grave Epitaph in Santa Rosa County, Florida; I wish I could remember the man's name.