After Bitcoin Halving, Greenidge Generation Continues to Harm Climate & FLX Environment

DRESDEN, NY (04/25/2024) (readMedia)-- Almost two years after the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) denied Greenidge Generation's air permit, the climate-killing cryptominer that became a national story is still burning fracked gas and harming the climate, environment, and local economy in order to mine crypto. Greenidge is allowed to continue operating as long as it's appealing that decision, and a ruling is imminent in its second appeal. Meanwhile, on April 9, Greenidge warned in its 10-k annual report of precarious finances, and that "The halving of Bitcoin, expected in April 2024, may have an adverse effect on the company's projected future cash flows." Greenidge's stock tanked 30% last week ahead of the weekend's "halving" - an event that cut the rewards for mining Bitcoins in half. Experts expect the halving to lead to industry consolidation, with smaller and struggling miners no longer being able to stay profitable with the reduced rewards.

"Even though the DEC and an Administrative Law Judge agree that Greenidge Generation's operations are inconsistent with the greenhouse gas emissions limits of New York's Climate Law, Greenidge continues to burn fracked gas, increasing local air and water pollution and accelerating climate change. We will continue working on behalf of the communities that live near this fossil power plant that mines cryptocurrency and that pollutes 24 hours a day, 365 days per year to make sure the DEC's decision sticks," said Mandy DeRoche, Deputy Managing Attorney in the Clean Energy Program at Earthjustice.

ABOUT GREENIDGE GENERATION AND CRYPTO-MINING IN NEW YORK

Greenidge Generation is a gas-fired power plant that previously only operated to provide power to New York's grid in times of peak demand. Now, it burns fracked gas 24/7/365 to mine Bitcoin.

On June 30, 2022, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation issued a Notice of Denial of the air permit renewal for Greenidge Generation. Greenidge appealed that decision, and on September 26, 2023, an Administrative Law Judge found again that Greenidge Generation's operations are inconsistent with the greenhouse gas emissions limits of New York's Climate Law (the CLCPA). Once again, Greenidge appealed that decision, and a new ruling is expected soon.

Greenidge isn't the only fracked gas-burning Bitcoin mining operation threatening New York's climate progress.

Advocates, organizations, and elected officials are also urging Governor Hochul and her administration to deny the air permit renewal for the gas-fired Digihost/Fortistar North Tonawanda power plant, now also a polluting proof-of-work crypto mining operation, in Western New York.

Burning fossil fuels like gas accelerates climate change, and a new study from The Journal of Cleaner Production shows how the carbon, air, and water footprint of cryptocurrency far surpasses that of traditional fiat currencies. Bad air quality is the world's leading environmental killer, linked to over 100,000 deaths each year in the U.S. alone. While the rest of New York works to meet the greenhouse gas emission reduction mandates of our climate law to fight climate change, Greenidge and Digihost are fighting to continue burning fracked gas.

Accelerating climate change and contributing to air pollution isn't the only negative impact of Greenidge's operations - residents who live near the facility report significant amounts of noise pollution. According to the New York Times, a growing body of research shows that chronic noise is a largely unrecognized health threat that increases the risk of hypertension, stroke, and heart attacks.

On November 22, 2022, Governor Hochul signed the first-in-the-nation two-year moratorium on new and renewed air permits for fossil-fueled power plants that produce their own energy to mine crypto. The new law requires the DEC perform a full environmental impact assessment on the energy and environmental impacts of crypto mining operations. However, the moratorium did not affect air permit applications that had already been submitted before its enactment, such as Greenidge's and Digihost/Fortistar's applications.

ABOUT CRYPTO-MINING ACROSS THE COUNTRY

In its most recent report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that Earth is likely to cross a critical and dire threshold for global warming within the next decade if we don't quickly and drastically reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. But after China banned proof-of-work crypto-mining (the process Bitcoin uses), citing, among other things, the environmental threats that mining poses to meeting emissions reduction goals, the U.S. is now hosting many energy-intensive proof-of-work crypto-mining operations. While these facilities of automated machines create few new jobs, they threaten the climate, in addition to small businesses, local economies, and natural resources.

Proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining is an energy-intensive process that requires thousands of machines whirring 24/7 to solve complex equations. The more machines that are running, the faster a coin is mined. Each one of these machines requires energy to run, plus more energy for cooling. Globally, Bitcoin mining consumes more energy each year than entire countries. Fossil-fueled mining facilities can also be major emitters of local air pollutants.

Last year, the New York Times published an in-depth expose about the negative impacts of proof-of-work Bitcoin mining. In September 2022, the White House sounded the alarm about cryptocurrency mining - the Office of Science and Technology Policy released a report about the industry's climate threats and the need for regulation. But cryptocurrency mining continues to grow rapidly across the country. Earthjustice and the Sierra Club released a Guidebook as well, with state-specific follow-up guidance for Pennsylvania, Texas, Kentucky, and Indiana. More highlights from the Guidebook:

• Proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining has grown explosively in the United States since 2020. Today, an estimated 38% of Bitcoin is mined in the U.S, resulting in nearly 30 million tons of excess CO2 emissions in the last year alone.
• The massive energy consumption of cryptocurrency mining threatens to undermine decades of progress toward achieving climate goals and reducing local pollution. In addition, cryptocurrency mining practices raise costs and risks for utilities and their ratepayers, can stress electric grids, and flood communities with noise.
• The cryptocurrency mining industry already uses half the electricity of the entire global banking sector, and it will overtake the sector in two years if current trends continue. Meanwhile, the ratio of Bitcoin's energy consumption to humans who actually have Bitcoin is extremely high.
• Rather than investing in long-term energy infrastructure that benefits the grid, the cryptocurrency mining industry seeks the fastest energy that can serve its needs, and looks for minimal regulation and oversight. In practice, that translates to mining cryptocurrency at coal and gas plants, straining the electric grid in Texas, and tapping into power grids that are often fossil-fuel heavy.
• Most mining facilities draw their power from the grid. That means electricity is generated by whatever existing energy is in place in the region. No grid anywhere in the U.S. is 100% renewable yet.
• Proponents also claim that mining is spurring new renewable development and stabilizing the grid. But clean energy allocated to cryptocurrency mining doesn't actually do anything to decarbonize the grid, and there are few mining facilities that are building renewables to even power their own operations, let alone send to the grid.
• Cryptocurrency mining proponents claim that mining uses "wasted" energy from solar or wind overproduction. But mining operations consume energy 24 hours a day, not just when there is excess solar or wind - meaning mining operations would fail to be profitable using only the hours when wasted energy is available.

Read the Sierra Club and Earthjustice guidebook here.

About Earthjustice

Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people's health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer.