A bill currently on the New York State Senate Committee calls for a three-year ban on Bitcoin mining while an environmental assessment is conducted to measure greenhouse gas emissions and the wildlife impact of all mining operations in the state.
New York Senate Bill S-6486, introduced by Democratic Senator Kevin Parker and endorsed by Democratic Senator Rachel May, is currently under scrutiny by the Senate Environment Committee.
A report on the bill called bitcoin miners “bitcoin-hungry profiteers” and noted that “Upstate New York has recently become a hotbed of mining activity and there may be more mines in the works”.
Foundry Digital, a subsidiary of DCG, has mining operations near Rochester, New York and helps fund other New York-based mining companies.
“Decentralized infrastructure is the way of the future; Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining won’t go away, “Foundry CEO Mike Colyer recently told Bitcoin Magazine. “The municipalities, states, and states that first understand and understand the benefits of this infrastructure will have a long-term competitive advantage. States like Texas and Kentucky are fueling the growth of this industry. Since Bitcoin mining is very mobile, the miners will move where they are. “
Factual inaccuracies in the invoice
Bill S-6486, referred to committee on May 3, 2021, claims to be acting in accordance with New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, and reads:
“A single cryptocurrency transaction consumes the same amount of energy as the average American household uses in a month, with the estimated global energy consumption being the same as that of the country of Sweden.”
And:
“It is reasonable to assume that the associated greenhouse gas emissions irreparably impair compliance with the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in violation of state law.”
But Magdalena Gronowska, a mining consultant at metamesh.com, told Bitcoin Magazine that these claims are not based on fact.
“This flawed legislation includes incorrect assumptions about energy usage and transactions (e.g., it says that a Bitcoin transaction uses as much energy as a US household every month),” she said. “While the bill is unsurprising, it is doing the mining industry a disservice if it is based on misinformation about how Bitcoin works. The perception that all Bitcoin mining is environmentally harmful has to change. “
We’ll pick it up here, New York
Francis Suarez, Mayor of Miami, described the bill as “a step in the wrong direction” and said, “Miami can mine Bitcoin with clean nuclear energy, we want to be the crypto-mining capital of the world.”
Meanwhile, more and more jurisdictions like Kentucky see a growing market for their “stranded” energy and offer incentives like tax deductions and subsidized energy costs.
“Smart jurisdictions see the world changing,” noted Gronowska. “Wyoming, Texas, Kentucky and Miami see the potential for economic development and create supportive policy environments to attract Bitcoin companies, including miners.”
Bitcoin miners will continue to operate in New York
Greenidge Power, based in Dresden, New York, which sells electricity to the power grid and also mines Bitcoin, recently switched a coal-fired power plant to natural gas to reduce emissions.
According to a recent report, Greenidge Power plans to expand its facilities, a renovation that has already been approved by the New York government.
And other recent developments make it clear that Bitcoin miners in general will advance their industry in ways that promote green energy. For example, Ninepoint recently announced plans to offset the carbon footprint of its exchange-traded Bitcoin fund, and Square released a white paper explaining how Bitcoin mining can fuel the widespread adoption of renewable energy.
Brad Yassar, a California-based Bitcoin miner, has said he is totally in favor of green mining but thinks there are two different standards when it comes to assessing which industries are polluting.
“I think where I can disagree with my opinion and my approach is that we look at other industries and other activities that consume electricity and energy on an industrial scale and on different scales and see if we have a global and overarching one Approach instead of saying Bitcoin is terrible for humanity and should be destroyed, “he said.
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