FLX Residents to Gov. Hochul: Stand with New Yorkers, Not Big Crypto Cash!

DRESDEN, NY (06/09/2022) (readMedia)-- This week, Governor Hochul said she may delay her decision about whether to sign the first-in-the-nation cryptomining moratorium bill until the end of the year; after the general election. Despite accepting $40,000 in campaign donations from crypto billionaires who are also spending millions on a SuperPAC to support her Lieutenant Governor candidate, as well as on lobbyists, she claimed at a televised debate that her donors do not influence her decision-making. She also said that:

"We have to be very cautious about facilities going into former fossil fuel power plants...I am not interested in doing anything to harm the environment because I have the most ambitious climate law on the books."

If she means what she says, advocates, business owners, and elected officials will call on her to prove it by signing the bill into law and denying Greenidge Generation's air permits now, not waiting until June 30, two days after the primary.

After being banned in China, outside speculators are flocking to New York, taking advantage of the nonexistent oversight and regulations. Greenidge, a fracked gas-burning power plant using grandfathered-in permits to run 24/7 as a Bitcoin mine, is the test case for cryptomining in New York. It causes air, water, and noise pollution, and threatening the local $3 billion, 60,000-job wine and tourism industry depends on.

The cryptomining moratorium legislation (A.7389-C Kelles/S.6486-D Parker) will establish a two-year moratorium on new and renewed permits for proof-of-work cryptomining operations housed at fossil fuel-burning power plants. The bill will also require the Department of Environmental Conservation to perform a full environmental impact assessment in a year's time on cryptomining operations and how they affect New York's ability to meet the climate goals mandated in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.