Landmark bill to limit cryptomining passes NY Legislature
Source: Associated Press
Landmark bill to limit cryptomining passes NY Legislature
By MICHAEL HILL
June 3, 2022
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York lawmakers have passed a milestone environmental measure designed to tap the brakes on the spread of cryptocurrency mining operations that burn fossil fuels.
Both supporters and opponents say that the closely watched bill, approved early Friday by the state Senate, is the first of its kind in the U.S.
If it becomes law, it would establish a two-year moratorium on new and renewed air permits for fossil fuel power plants used for energy-intensive “proof-of-work” cryptocurrency mining — a term for the computational process that records and secures transactions in bitcoin and similar forms of digital money. Proof-of-work is the blockchain-based algorithm used by bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies.
Environmentalists are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign the legislation. They say the state is undermining its long-term climate goals by letting cryptomining operations run their own natural gas-burning power plants.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/cryptocurrency-climate-technology-environment-ee46804d5c6c0280b318d5ff3abcb731
FILE - The Greenidge Generation bitcoin mining facility, in a former coal plant by Seneca Lake in Dresden, New York, is shown in this photo from Nov. 29, 2021. A milestone measure that would tap the brakes on the spread of cryptocurrency mining operations burning fossil fuels in New York has passed the state Legislature. The bill approved early Friday, June 3, 2022, by the state Senate would establish a two-year moratorium on new and renewed air permits for fossil fuel power plants used for energy-intensive “proof-of-work” cryptomining. The plant also produces power for the state's electricity grid. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
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