Carbon-Fueled Bitcoin Mining Moratorium Bill Passed the New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly has passed Bill A7389C, which aims to suspend PoW mining powered by “carbon-based fuel” in the state. Also, a big proportion of the bill requests the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for a thorough investigation of the number of PoW mining operations and expected increase, electricity and water consumption, sources of electricity, greenhouse gas emissions, the threat to public health, etc. This could possibly mean a comprehensive understanding of PoW mining’s contribution to NYS greenhouse emissions is yet to be established, and the bill passed on without a reasonable concern.
MPs debated the bill for more than two hours. The bill’s main sponsor Assemblymember Anna Kelles had to emphasize the fact that the bill aims to only cut PoW mining that uses “carbon-based fuel”
The bill eventually passed the New York State Assembly Committee on April 27th in a 95–52 win, now heads to the state Senate, where a similar bill was previously approved. Some worried that the bill will only drive Bitcoin farms to other parts of the U.S and NYS’s approval of such a bill is nothing but a self-centered effort.
This is perhaps a small step towards the CLCPA goals but a big step back from Bitcoin mining, and Ether mining in a short term.
Organizations are actively mobilizing people to prevent the bill from turning into a law. The Blockchain Association describes it in this way:
“New York would be the first state in the country to ban crypto mining with a bill that only targets the blockchain industry in terms of curbing energy use. The ban will have zero impact on the climate, however, as the mining operations will simply move to neighboring states.”
One facility that falls under the “carbon fueled” category, run by Greenidge Generation in the Finger Lakes region, has been in the middle of a controversial permit renewal process in New York. Last month the DEC pushed back the final decision to June while it reviews the company’s proposed mitigation measures and close to 4,000 public comments. If the bill passes the Senate, its permit may never come.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams, a cryptocurrency advocate who claims to “support cryptocurrency, not crypto mining”, said on Wednesday:
“crypto and blockchain are here to stay, (…) I’m going to partner with all of the leaders in this industry and start building out school curriculum so we can have young people prepared to fill jobs that will be available [in crypto],”
Kelles highly appreciates Adams’ separation of cryptocurrency and crypto mining, and insists that the bill will not hinder the NYS from being the cryptocurrency leader in other aspects (such as purchasing, trading and selling digital assets).
Last year, New York attracted a whopping $6.5 billion in investment, or 46 percent of the funding for blockchain or cryptocurrency-focused companies, CB Insights data shows. NYDIG (New York Digital Investment Group LLC) and Celsius Network LLC led the way with $1 billion and $750 million respectively. Whilst Silicon Valley, the tech hub known for its huge venture capital spending, ranks second in the nation with $3.9 billion in crypto company funding. Will the ranking alter with the moratorium? We shall see.
Sources:
https://nypost.com/2021/11/04/mayor-elect-eric-adams-vows-to-make-nyc-crypto-friendly/
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/a7389/amendment/c?intent=oppose
https://nyassembly.gov/mem/Anna-R-Kelles/story/101384
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the blog belong to the content creators and not the organization, its affiliates, or employees. This content may include guest opinions.
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