ICYMI: Despite Majority Support in NYS Senate, Leadership Stalls on Crucial Climate Legislation

ALBANY, NY (06/01/2022) (readMedia)-- Today, Politico reported that even though there are enough votes to pass the cryptomining moratorium bill, NYS Senate leadership is unlikely to bring it to a vote before session ends on Thursday. The bill, A7389B/S6486D, would put a two-year moratorium on new and renewed air permits for climate-killing cryptomining at fossil fuel power plants, and require an environmental impact study.

"The New York state Senate has abdicated its responsibility to address climate change or attempt to meet the goals of the CLCPA," State Senator Kevin Parker, lead sponsor of the bill, told POLITICO. "The lack of courage on the cryptocurrency moratorium is especially disappointing because it's a resource that's being exploited by people that care nothing for our state."

Politico reports, "Parker had previously expressed confidence in the support for the measure, especially since the Senate passed a more aggressive moratorium last year. Officials familiar with the discussions said while there are enough votes to pass the bill, leadership decided not to bring it to a vote."

Assemblymember Anna Kelles (D-Ithaca), told POLITICO, "It passed the Senate last year and it was a much broader bill that passed the Senate last year. Literally the only thing that's different between last year and this year is a phenomenal amount of money coming from the industry into this state."

Read the full article here and below.

This news comes after Politico's report that opposition to the cryptomining moratorium has been fueled by the Koch Brothers'-funded Club for Growth, a group that funds anti-gay, anti-abortion, far right candidates. The Club spent $30,000 to spread lies to fight a cryptomining moratorium bill.

Additionally, last Friday, Governor Hochul reported a $40,000 campaign donation from Ashton Soniat, Chairman & CEO of Coinmint, which operates one of the world's largest cryptomining facilities in Massena, NY. She also reported $78,000 in donations from Albany lobbying firm Ostroff Associates and its partners, which count crypto miner Blockfusion as a client.

The New York Times reported, "Ms. Hochul's campaign reported that she received the donation from Mr. Soniat, via credit card, on May 23. A day later, Ms. Hochul, during a breakfast with legislators at the governor's mansion in Albany, spoke optimistically about the potential job creation bonanza in the economically distressed area.

Assemblywoman Anna R. Kelles, a Democrat who represents the Ithaca area, said Ms. Hochul told her the state can't ignore the jobs crypto mining in Massena could bring. Ms. Kelles said Ms. Hochul told her, "I spoke to them and they said they employ about 140 people and they are looking to go up to 400 employees in an area where there are very few industries. So this is really important.'"

POLITICO: Cryptocurrency mining moratorium stalls in New York State Senate

ALBANY, N.Y. - A first in the nation effort to impose a moratorium on cryptocurrency mining at fossil fuel plants in New York is not expected to advance in this session after fierce pushback from the industry.

Sen. Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn), who chairs the energy committee and sponsored the measure, said the lack of action will undermine progress on the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the state's landmark climate law that requires steep emissions reductions over the next decade.

Upstate New York has increasingly become a burgeoning location for cryptocurrency mining due to its fairly cheap energy and shuttered power plants with unused electric infrastructure. But the growth has also fueled protests from some residents and environmental groups about the local impact on pollution.

"The New York state Senate has abdicated its responsibility to address climate change or attempt to meet the goals of the CLCPA," Parker told POLITICO. "The lack of courage on the cryptocurrency moratorium is especially disappointing because it's a resource that's being exploited by people that care nothing for our state."

Why it matters: The two-year cryptocurrency mining moratorium was passed by the Assembly earlier this session and is narrowly targeted at proof-of-work mining that utilizes behind-the-meter electricity from fossil fuel plants. It exempts operations that have already secured or applied for new or renewed air permits and the bulk of facilities in New York that rely on power from the electric grid.

It would have been the first such ban in the U.S. and also required a study of the industry and its environmental impacts. The cryptocurrency industry and business groups pushed back hard on the measure, arguing it would have a chilling effect and misrepresenting it as a wholesale ban on mining digital currencies.

Details: Parker had previously expressed confidence in the support for the measure, especially since the Senate passed a more aggressive moratorium last year. Officials familiar with the discussions said while there are enough votes to pass the bill, leadership decided not to bring it to a vote.

Some senators with cryptocurrency mining operations in their districts have opposed the moratorium. Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Nassau County), who chairs the environmental conservation committee, has also expressed concerns about the message it sends to the industry.

Sen. Jeremy Cooney (D-Rochester), has opposed the moratorium and instead backed bills to study the impacts of the industry. Foundry is a cryptocurrency company based in his district that has lobbied aggressively against the moratorium.

Cooney said a moratorium could be a precursor to a ban and that more information is needed about the environmental and climate impacts of the industry before that step is taken.

"We don't want to send a message that we're closed off," he said.

Parker said he's not gotten a satisfactory explanation as to why the bill isn't being brought to the floor for a vote.

He said failing to pass the moratorium poses the risk that the industry will refire and ramp up fossil fuel plants across upstate New York, putting the state's climate goals further out of reach.

Assemblymember Anna Kelles (D-Ithaca), who sponsored the bill in that chamber and has championed the issue alongside environmental advocates and Finger Lakes residents near a gas-powered cryptocurrency mining project, raised similar concerns.

"It passed the Senate last year and it was a much broader bill that passed the Senate last year," she said. "Literally the only thing that's different between last year and this year is a phenomenal amount of money coming from the industry into this state."

Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) said some members of the conference are valuing perceived short-term economic benefits over the long term environmental costs of the industry.

"It's a myopic view that needs to be called out," he said. "We're in a period where people are desperate for solutions to their regional economic needs. ... Some of us question the wisdom of bowing and scraping to such a speculative industry."

What's next: The session is scheduled to end Thursday.

Background

Proof-of-work cryptocurrency is an extremely 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 to run cooling technology. Globally, proof-of-work Bitcoin mining uses the same amount of energy each day as the entire country of Argentina. It produces 30,700 metric tons of e-waste each year, comparable to the yearly IT equipment waste of the Netherlands.

More than 1,000 organizations, businesses, environmental activists, concerned residents, wine makers, elected officials, and more have taken action over the last year in opposition to Greenidge and crypto mining in New York State. NYC Comptroller Brad Lander sent a letter to NYS Leadership expressing strong support for a cryptomining moratorium. A letter sent to Governor Hochul in October was signed by more than 650 individuals and groups. In letters to Governor Cuomo last year opposing Greenidge Generation's expansion from an emergency peaker plant to a 24/7 Bitcoin mining operation, organizations, businesses, and Finger Lakes residents demanded Gov. Cuomo revoke Greenidge's grandfathered-in permits. And recently, several groups sent an open letter to Senators Gillibrand and Schumer urging them to visit the Finger Lakes and meet the residents and business owners whose livelihoods are suffering the environmental and economic consequences of Greenidge.

Greenidge Generation is the test case for cryptomining in New York.

Located on the shores of Seneca Lake, Greenidge operates over 17,000 Bitcoin mining machines and is expanding to over 32,500, with visible smokestacks pumping dirty fossil fuels into the air 24/7. This will lead to over 1 million tons of CO2 emissions each year, equal to that of 100,000 homes. Greenidge also sucks up to 139 million gallons of water each day from Seneca Lake and dumps it back in at up to 108 degrees. Gregory Boyer, director of SUNY's Great Lakes Research Consortium, has warned about Greenidge's potential to cause harmful algal blooms, which can be dangerous or fatal to humans and other animals in Seneca Lake, and make this water source for 100,000 people non-potable.

Greenidge's air permits are up for renewal by Governor Hochul and the DEC, who have given themselves five additional months to make a decision. The new deadline is June 30, two days after the gubernatorial primary. The DEC has consistently cited the need to sift through 4,000 public comments as part of the reason for this delay, but researchers from Cornell University FOILed for the comments, and found that 98% of the comments are opposed to Greenidge. In addition, more than 1,000 local businesses, organizations, wineries, labor unions, and more have taken action against Greenidge because of the threats its air, water, and noise pollution pose to the local $3 billion agritourism economy.

Advocates warn that a renewal of its air permits would signal to more outside speculators that New York's fossil fuel power plants, closed as we work toward meeting greenhouse gas emissions reductions goals, are available to be bought up and re-opened as gas guzzling Bitcoin mining threats to local businesses and cancers on communities. In addition to calling for Greenidge's permits to be denied, electeds, local businesses, residents, and advocates are calling on Governor Hochul to support a cryptomining moratorium.

The DEC has already confirmed that Greenidge is a threat to New York's energy goals as outlined in the state's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. In a recent story, "DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos told WSKG that he continues to have "significant concerns" whether Greenidge Generation's operations will be compliant with the state's statutory climate goals under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, or CLCPA." Seggos later said, "Our belief still stands that this is a facility that's going to have an uphill battle complying with the law."

And at a recent Environmental Conservation budget hearing when asked about the potential impact of the escalating cryptocurrency mining activity in upstate NY on the states energy grid, the NYS Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) President Doreen Harris stated, "There could be a very significant impact on NY load resulting from cryptocurrency mining depending on the penetration of the resource."

Because of Greenidge and other fossil fuel burning cryptomining plants, advocates are calling for a moratorium on cryptomining. Legislation (A7389B/S6486C) to place a 2 year moratorium on proof-of-work cryptomining in New York State passed the Assembly, and it's now up to the Senate to pass it. Opposition to the proposed moratorium has relied on misrepresentations of the bill from far right groups such as the Koch Brothers-funded Club for Growth.

Advocates are also calling on Governor Hochul to put a moratorium on cryptomining. The Governor is well within her legal authority to act, according to a new white paper from Columbia Law School Sabin Center for Climate Change Law: A Pause on Proof-Of-Work: The New York State Executive Branch's Authority to Enact a Moratorium on the Permitting of Consolidated Proof of Work Cryptocurrency Mining Facilities. The paper (summary of findings available here) draws on precedent established in 2010 when the executive branch signed the fracking moratorium. It finds the Governor has authority to stop new proof-of-work cryptomining operations by enacting a moratorium on the permitting of these facilities until a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) to determine the full extent of the impacts of mining on communities is complete.

Cryptomining is at odds with the overwhelmingly popular amendment to the New York state constitution passed last year, which guarantees every New Yorker the right to clean air, clean water, and a healthful environment. Revitalizing old polluting power plants for private financial gain, with drastic consequences for our air, water and climate, all while causing huge amounts of noise pollution, is now unconstitutional - and ought to be treated as such.

Reform groups Common Cause/NY and NYPIRG have specifically criticized the crypto mining industry for exploiting public resources and straining the energy grid for private gain, and a group of federal lawmakers led by Senator Elizabeth Warren requested details from six major Bitcoin mining companies about their electricity usage and contributions to climate change. The NY League of Conservation voters sent a letter to Governor Hochul urging her to pause and regulate cryptomining, and 1199 SEIU recently announced their endorsement of a cryptomining moratorium. Earlier this year, President Biden issued an executive order requiring federal agencies study the legal, economic, and environmental impacts of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin mining. Even the Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, an avid crypto booster has come out against mining, declaring at a February 9th joint session of the Legislature: "I support cryptocurrency, not crypto mining."

About Seneca Lake Guardian

Seneca Lake Guardian is a New York State Not-for-Profit Corporation with 501(c)(3) and is dedicated to preserving and protecting the health of the Finger Lakes, its residents and visitors, its rural community character, and its agricultural and tourist related businesses through public education, citizen participation, engagement with decision makers, and networking with like-minded organizations.