Getty Images | Andriy Onufriyenko
The New York state legislature passed a bill that would prevent fossil fuel power plants from being revived to power cryptocurrency mining activities. If signed by Governor Kathy Hochul, the proposed law would prevent the issuance of new permits for two years.
It is a “first-in-the-nation cryptocurrency mining moratorium bill,” advocacy group Earthjustice said Friday. While the bill does not address crypto mining operations that burn fossil fuels and have already applied for new or renewed air permits, it would prevent future facilities from receiving air permits for two years while the State Department of Environmental Conservation conducts a thorough investigation. researching proof-of-work crypto mining,” the group said.
The bill’s prospects looked bleak earlier this week, but passed by the state senate after noon on Friday morning by 36-27 votes. It was previously approved by the General Assembly by 95-52 votes in April.
“Despite the cryptocurrency industry spending millions lobbying the bill and spreading misinformation, the legislation has been passed with widespread support by the Assembly,” the office of Senator Kevin Parker (D-21) said in a statement last month. press release urging the Senate to take action. The bill’s goal is to “interrupt the dirty practice or re-igniting of retired fossil fuel power plants for crypto mining,” the press release said.
By passing the new state law, “the legislature has rightly said that fossil fuel power plants cannot be given a second life in New York just for the benefit of private industry, which would violate state climate mandates,” it said. Earthjustice New York. Policy attorney Liz Moran.
Bill focuses on proof-of-work mining
The bill says the state will not be able to approve a new air permit during the two-year moratorium “for an electric generating plant that uses a carbon-based fuel and that provides, in whole or in part, electrical energy consumed behind the meter or used by cryptocurrency mining activities.” that use proof-of-work authentication methods to validate blockchain transactions.”
The bill goes on to say that the state “will not approve an application for renewal of an existing permit or issue a renewal permit…if the renewal application involves an increase in the amount of electrical energy consumed or “a proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining operation.” .
The bill also requires government agencies to “produce a generic environmental impact statement on cryptocurrency mining activities that use proof-of-work authentication methods to validate blockchain transactions.” The assessment would examine the amount of electricity used by these operations, the types of fuel used, the impact on greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, other environmental impacts and health impacts” due to reduced air and water quality in nearby communities. of cryptocurrency mining operations.”
Bitcoin uses the energy-intensive proof-of-work method. The Ethereum project plans to move from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake as early as August. As a post on the project’s website states, the proof-of-stake method “uses drastically less energy and allows for the implementation of new scaling solutions”, but “is also more complex than proof-of-work and refining “The mechanism has taken years of research and development. The challenge now is to implement PoS on the live Ethereum network – a process known as ‘The Merge’.”
