A recent decision by a New York judge will allow a cryptocurrency plant to continue operating despite environmentalists' concerns over the plant's massive pollution output, the Associated Press reported.
What's happening?
Greenidge Generation, a large-scale crypto mine in the Finger Lakes region of central New York, began mining bitcoin four years ago using a former coal-burning plant that's been converted to a natural gas one.
Massive crypto-mining operations require thousands of computer servers that consume enormous amounts of electricity. Greenidge uses the plant to power its servers.
The state of New York has ambitious climate goals, and in 2022, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation determined Greenidge's pollution output was in contradiction to these goals and denied a required air permit for the company.
Greenidge responded with a lawsuit. State Supreme Court Justice Vincent M. Dinolfo ruled last month that the DEC made an "interpretative error" under the law in failing to give Greenidge an opportunity to justify its continued operation, per the AP.
In a prepared statement, Greenidge said: "Transparent political bias lost today. The ruling ensures our facility will continue operating and our local employees will not have their careers ripped away by politically motivated governmental overreach that had no basis in law from the first day it began."
A group of environmental organizations has accused Greenidge of releasing millions of pounds of carbon dioxide — a planet-warming gas — into the air. They also allege the company is contaminating nearby Seneca Lake daily.
Why is this ruling important?
Mandy DeRoche, a deputy managing attorney in the Clean Energy Program at Earthjustice, said: "The Finger Lakes community has been sounding the alarm on the disastrous impacts of this facility on their water, air, and climate."
"We will continue our fight until Greenidge shuts down for good," she continued, according to the AP.
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Nearby residents' health is being affected by Greenidge's pollution, and so is the climate crisis.
Carbon dioxide generated from burning fossil fuels enters the atmosphere and contributes to rising global temperatures. This climate crisis has caused extreme weather events to worsen and become more frequent, endangering lives and destroying natural habitats.
What's being done about pollution?
Environmental groups like Earthjustice have vowed to continue fighting to shut down Greenidge's operations. Not-for-profit corporations like Seneca Lake Guardian actively work to protect the environment in many different ways.
The cryptocurrency platform Ethereum recently switched to "proof of stake" and reduced its energy consumption by a reported 99.95% as a result. While the consensus from analysts is that bitcoin, as Greenidge focuses on, does not appear likely to ever make such a shift, some analysts have at least pointed out that many firms similar to Greenidge have instead invested in building or purchasing renewable energy plants, such as solar or wind farms, with the hope that crypto could eventually prove to be a driver of clean energy innovation and infrastructure.
In the meantime, though, bitcoin computing needs nonetheless requires so much energy that the currency is globally responsible for millions of tons of net carbon dioxide pollution per year.
In our daily lives, we can each take small actions to reduce our own pollution output. Actions such as electrifying our homes, switching to electric vehicles, and planting native plants all add up to make a positive impact on the world and our future.
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