Amid the rise of cryptocurrencies, concerns over regulating the crypto market are piling up from both private businesses and regulatory agencies.
A number of local companies have petitioned New York State Governor Kathy Hochul to revoke permits for the conversion of the city’s outdated fossil-fuel power stations into crypto mining hubs. The letter-request was signed by representatives from a variety of organizations, enterprises, and labor unions.
The contents of the letter urge a review for assessing the environmental factors of Proof-of-Work mining of cryptocurrencies in New York State as well as imploring the Governor to halt on approving the permit to make crypto mining infrastructure out of the Fortistar North Tonawanda and the Greenidge Generating Station plants for the following reason: “Proof-of-Work cryptocurrency mining use enormous amounts of energy to power the computers needed to conduct business – should this activity expand in New York, it could drastically undermine New York’s climate goals established under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.”
The proposition stressed the shortcomings of Proof-of-Work (PoW) authentication and suggested that recommissioning decommissioned fossil-fueled power facilities would endanger the state’s progress toward and compliance with Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction regulations.
Related: Senator Ted Cruz Suggests Natural Gas Allocation to BTC Mining
Greenidge has not demonstrated adherence with New York’s climate law, according to NYS Commissioner Basil Seggos of the Department of Environmental Conservation.
NYS is taking action on #ClimateChange. Today @NYSDEC released for public comment draft air permits for former coal plant turned bitcoin mine, Greenidge LLC. DEC has not made a final determination on the permits and Greenidge has not shown compliance with NY’s climate law./1 pic.twitter.com/PKozYCUIeQ
— Basil Seggos🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@BasilSeggos) September 8, 2021
The letter asks that Hochul’s office refuse the Title V Air Permits for the two fossil-fuel plants, emphasizing the need for a complete environmental study relating to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.
Meanwhile, Russia as a response to the incoming miners from the China crackdown is incrementally preparing to invoke individual electricity tariffs, which was suggested by Nikolai Shulginov, the Russian Energy Minister, citing that letting miners profit off of low electricity prices for residents is not a commodity that the country is willing to facilitate.
Bitcoin’s (BTC) power consumption will continue below 0.5% of global power consumption over the next 10 years, as per a study conducted by the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG). In addition, the study concludes that price changes, energy use and mining difficulty will all affect the carbon footprint of Bitcoin (BTC).
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