On Monday, over 50 group teams across the nation submitted feedback to the Biden administration to deal with the dangerous impacts of “proof-of-work” cryptocurrency mining of their localities. Along with feedback submitted outlining state-specific considerations by teams in New York, Pennsylvania, Montana, Kentucky, and Texas, Earthjustice supported different nationwide public curiosity teams in calling for federal businesses to review the local weather and vitality impacts of proof-of-work mining.
The Biden administration will research an array of points related to the “Accountable Growth of Digital Belongings” in its March 2022 Executive Order. A central concern raised by all teams is scrutiny of the vitality consumed by digital currencies relying upon proof-of-work to validate transactions, which undermines efforts to scale back local weather and native air pollution. Earthjustice joins the decision for regulatory efforts to curb the electrical energy use and air pollution related to digital currencies that depend on proof-of-work.
On Tuesday, Could 10, residents and advocates from throughout the nation will communicate out in opposition to climate-killing cryptomining. Here’s more information on their press conference.
“Bitcoin miners are desirous to make the most of subsidies and lax regulation in Pennsylvania. Energy vegetation burning extremely polluting waste coal have been was mining operations, transportable turbines and mining {hardware} have proven up unannounced at fracked-gas properly websites, and even nuclear energy vegetation are putting in miners. Not solely are taxpayers and ratepayers paying the worth, all of us pay the worth of elevated air pollution.” – Rob Alternburg for PennFuture, Pennsylvania
“Throughout the 2021 legislative session in Kentucky, lawmakers handed important incentives for capital funding and tax breaks to draw these crypto corporations, but the advantages to the communities they serve are usually not seeing enormous numbers of jobs, and the environmental affect is important.” – Lane Boldman for Kentucky Conservation Committee, Kentucky
“Communities like mine close to the Greenidge facility within the Finger Lakes of New York are being harmed as a as soon as shuttered fossil gas plant has reopened, primarily utilizing the facility generated to mine Bitcoin. It is jeopardizing our well being, our air, our water, and hurting our thriving agriculture and tourism financial system. That is an especially pressing concern at a time when the Intergovernmental Panel on Local weather Change warns that it’s now or by no means to scale back greenhouse fuel emissions with a view to keep away from probably the most dire penalties of local weather change. We should not let this trade set us again, regardless of the tens of millions of {dollars} they’re investing to stay unregulated. We’re urging the Biden administration to take swift motion and undertake insurance policies that take a tough and quick method to this energy-intensive trade.” – Abi Buddington for Committee to Protect the Finger Lakes, New York
“The vitality wants of this largely unregulated trade poses a critical menace to native, state, and federal local weather objectives. It’s time for the federal authorities to step in and add some sideboards to make sure that Montanans don’t face greater vitality payments and elevated local weather impacts from a shadowy trade with an insatiable urge for food for electrical energy.” – Anne Hedges for Montana Environmental Info Heart, Montana
“Cryptocurrency mining attracts large quantities of electrical energy that can additional tax the questionable Texas electrical grid, will produce nonetheless extra air emissions that contribute to local weather change, and can enhance electrical energy charges for space residents.” –James Klein for Coastal Bend Sierra Membership Chapter, Texas
“Our grid is being held hostage in Texas. We’re being extorted to pay these grifters to close down their pointless mining after they deliberately elevate the worth of electrical energy and undermine our democracy. All of the whereas making local weather change worse. Right here in Corpus Christi our elected officers hid AEP in search of a price enhance whilst they accepted including 600 megawatts to our grid ignoring the considerations of group members.” – Chris Phelan for For The Higher Good, Texas
“Politicians have been playing on the Texas grid for years. When it lastly failed, tens of millions of Texas froze inside their very own houses. Crypto is simply the newest unhealthy wager, and politicians like Ted Cruz have purchased in. However crypto mining affords nothing to our grid however an enormous new supply of demand. We want tangible grid options like battery storage and weatherization to scale back demand. Crypto affords none of this. The trade’s worth to our grid is about as actual because the product it sells.” – Adrian Shelley for Public Citizen, Texas
“Within the Finger Lakes and throughout New York, exterior speculators are invading our communities to destroy our pure assets, kneecap native companies, and preserve us from assembly essential local weather objectives, simply to make a couple of individuals very, very wealthy. Whereas we look forward to Governor Hochul to enact sane vitality coverage and put a moratorium on climate-killing cryptomining, the federal authorities should step in and regulate this harmful and rising trade. Repowering or increasing coal and fuel vegetation to make faux cash in the midst of a local weather disaster is actually insane.” – Yvonne Taylor for Seneca Lake Guardian, New York
“We can not waste extra valuable time taking part in whack-a-mole on the native and state degree. We implore the federal authorities to take speedy steps to deal with the bitcoin mining explosion wreaking havoc on our local weather insurance policies, polluting our communities, ravaging our vitality provide and escalating electrical energy charges in the midst of a local weather disaster.” – Ellen Weininger for Grassroots Environmental Schooling, New York
