Regional Leaders Oppose Latest Crypto Mining Venture

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Conservationists are trying to shut down another crypto mining company in New York. Namely, Digihost/Fortistar North Tonawanda, which is seeking to renew the air permit for its factory located just north of Buffalo.

Ithaca Assemblyman Anna Kelles says Digihost is already a polluter in the community and documents show it plans to increase production to 24/7 all day. year.

“These carbon emissions are expected to increase by more than 1,000%,” Kelles said. “According to the company’s own projections, their emissions would be equivalent to driving 63,170 cars for an entire year. And local pollution like methane and nitrogen oxides is also expected to increase.”

Kelles and other attorneys held a press conference on Tuesday, urging Governor Kathy Hochul not to renew Digihosts’ air permit.

To be clear, crypto-mining does not mean digging underground. But that usually means burning huge amounts of fossil fuels to power the computers that create cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin.

In November, Hochul signed a two-year moratorium on new permits for certain types of crypto-mining factories. Called a first in the country, it was authored by Kelles. But this did not prohibit old permits which must be renewed.

Liz Moran wants to change that. Shes a policy advocate for environmental law nonprofit Earthjustice.

“It’s insane that we have to play Whack-a-Mole with these facilities when we’re the state with a national climate law,” Moran said. “Fortunately, the Department of Environmental Conservation followed that law when they denied the aerial permit for the Greenidge facility. Of course, that’s still in process at this time.”

Moran thinks the Hochuls administration did the right thing in banning Greenidge and hopes it will do the same with Digihost.

A natural gas crypto-extraction plant in Dresden, owned by Greenidge Generation, was shut down by the DEC last year. However, the plant is still in operation, as the company is appealing the DEC’s decision.

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