By Jacob Elkin
As cryptocurrency has elevated in reputation and cryptocurrency mining amenities have expanded their vitality consumption, some fossil gasoline energy crops in New York have ramped up vitality era to offer behind-the-meter energy to cryptocurrency miners. Elevated energy era to gasoline cryptocurrency mining has vital environmental impacts, resulting in greenhouses gasoline emissions which will threaten the state’s emission discount targets. Native governments throughout New York have responded with moratoria on the siting of recent cryptocurrency mining amenities, and payments have been launched within the New York State Senate and the New York State Meeting to determine a three-year moratorium on new or renewed permits for electrical producing amenities that make the most of carbon-based fuels and that present behind-the-meter electrical vitality to proof-of-work mining amenities.
In a white paper printed in the present day, the Sabin Heart for Local weather Change Regulation argues that the New York State Govt Department presently has authorized authority below the State Environmental High quality Evaluate Act and the Group Safety and Local weather Management Act to pause the allowing of such amenities whereas the Division of Environmental Conservation analyzes the amenities’ impacts by means of a generic environmental affect assertion. Along with analyzing the statutory bases for such a moratorium, the white paper assesses potential authorized challenges which may be introduced in response to it, concluding that these challenges wouldn’t carry notably sturdy authorized weight. The white paper additionally notes {that a} state allowing moratorium would seemingly not attain mining amenities that obtain all of their vitality from the grid; the paper outlines potential legislative approaches to initiating state regulation of these amenities, together with related coverage concerns.
The white paper was written by Local weather Regulation Fellow Jacob Elkin. Learn the white paper here.
Posted in Executive Action, Publications
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