ICYMI: Buffalo News Editorial Board Urges NYS to Prioritize Existing Climate Law Over Cryptomining Interests

BUFFALO, NY (11/21/2024) (readMedia)-- This week, the Buffalo News published an editorial emphasizing the need for New York State to enforce its climate law and stop enabling polluters like Digihost, a cryptocurrency mining company operating a gas-burning power plant in North Tonawanda. Just days after the Supreme Court of Albany County rescinded the approval of a fracked gas power plant sale to a cryptocurrency mining company, the editorial supported the court's ruling and highlighted the environmental and community harms caused by Digihost's operations. The Editorial Board urged state regulators to prioritize the climate and surrounding communities, upholding New York's climate law, over cryptomining interests.

The Board also wrote:

"Greenhouse gas emissions are not the only problem, but they are central to this ruling. Digihost uses the power from an old gas-burning plant, Fortistar, to run its machines. According to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in just the first few months of 2024, Digihost/Fortistar produced nearly the same amount of emissions as it did in all of 2022 and 2023 combined."

The Editorial Board also praised local efforts to push back against Digihost, including North Tonawanda's temporary ban on new cryptomining operations and noise monitoring initiatives. However, the Board stressed that such measures should not have been necessary under the state's 2019 Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act (CLCPA).

With Digihost's operations pending air pollution permit renewal from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the Board called on regulators to ensure that the state's climate goals are upheld.

Read the entire Editorial here and below.

The Editorial Board: New York should continue lessening emissions and stop enabling polluters

New York State needs to follow its own laws.

A recent State Supreme Court ruling stated that New York's Public Service Commission should have considered the state's climate law before allowing cryptocurrency mining company Digihost to purchase a North Tonawanda power plant. The ruling is welcome news.

But it's concerning that a lawsuit filed by the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York and the Sierra Club community protests were needed to call attention to a situation that never should have been allowed in the first place.

As The News' Mackenzie Shuman reported, the PSC must now reconsider Digihost's application to own the power plant, this time taking into account the state's greenhouse gas emission goals. Unfortunately, there is still the possibility that this absurd commitment to a highly wasteful use of fossil fuel-produced energy will be allowed to continue. That would be a grave injustice to North Tonawanda residents who are suffering multiple environmental harms from this plant.

Justice Richard Platkin, who ruled on this, joins many others in questioning why Digihost has been allowed to operate in North Tonawanda for more than two years without being challenged by either local or state authorities.

Greenhouse gas emissions are not the only problem, but they are central to this ruling. Digihost uses the power from an old gas-burning plant, Fortistar, to run its machines. According to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in just the first few months of 2024, Digihost/Fortistar produced nearly the same amount of emissions as it did in all of 2022 and 2023 combined.

If Digihost increases the Fortistar natural gas burning plant's output to full power, it could generate more than 300,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year – equivalent to the emissions from more than 66,000 motor vehicles.

As it ramps up its emissions, the facility needs renewal of a mandatory air pollution permit from New York's Department of Environmental Conservation to continue operating. The renewal application went in in 2021 and the DEC has yet to decide. A public comment period is required and has yet to be set.

The second big problem is noise pollution. Cryptocurrency mining requires hundreds of specialized computer servers stacked inside shipping containers, which must run continuously in order to solve the complex mathematical problems that generate Bitcoins. Large fans also run 24/7 to cool down the servers.

Even North Tonawanda residents who live as far as 2 miles away can hear this operation, while those who live closer must endure, as Shuman reported last summer, a reverberating din that seems to "bounce off homes."

Economic benefits other than those profiting Digihost seem lacking. When the company came to North Tonawanda, it promised 20 to 30 high-paying tech jobs. That hasn't happened.

To its credit, North Tonawanda has taken its own measures to protect residents from the side effects of cryptomining. In July, a unanimous Common Council vote banned new cryptocurrency mining operations in the municipality for the next two years. The city also hired an outside expert to conduct noise monitoring around the plant.

But this should not have been necessary. Given New York's 2019 Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act, New York regulators should be lessening harmful emissions in residential communities, not enabling polluters.

The implications of this ruling should send a strong message to Albany.

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