Sacramento, CA (November 28, 2022)– Last week, New York Governor Hochul signed a two-year moratorium on crypto mining. This first of a kind law will put a pause on all new cryptocurrency mining permits at fossil fuel plants and require the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation to conduct a study into the practice’s environmental impacts.
In response to the moratorium, Rolf Skar, Special Projects Manager at Greenpeace USA, said: “Crypto ‘miners’ who use the energy-intensive Proof of Work model have gone unchecked for too long. They have re-started coal plants and have sucked up more energy than some small countries. This first of a kind law comes at a time when policymakers, the EPA, and concerned citizens are starting to realize that crypto-mining operations are not worth the environmental costs. We applaud the action taken by Gov. Hochul to address the environmental concerns over the energy-intensive activity of these ‘miners.’
“We also applaud Gov. Hochul’s use of a moratorium to address this problem. Last year, China banned crypto mining, and as a result, many of the “miners” moved to other countries, including the United States. Moratoriums like this one create a time-out to stop a problem from getting worse while figuring out what to do next. It is time for the Bitcoin community – including companies like Fidelity Investments and Mastercard – to use this two-year moratorium to change Bitcoin’s code away from energy-intensive Proof of Work “mining” to fix its growing climate problem for good.”
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Contact: Gigi Singh, Greenpeace USA Senior Communications Specialist, [email protected], 631-404-9977
Greenpeace USA is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa.
