New York judge rejects state efforts to shutter bitcoin mine over climate concerns
A New York judge has rejected an effort by state regulators to shutter a bitcoin mine over concerns about its greenhouse gas emissions
NEW YORK — A cryptocurrency plant in central New York can continue operating after a court rejected the state’s effort to shutter the facility over concerns about its climate impact.
The decision was hailed as a victory by Greenidge Generation, a large-scale crypto mine in the Finger Lakes region that has drawn the ire of environmental groups and watchdogs since it began mining bitcoin four years ago.
Like other large-scale crypto-mining operations, Greenidge relies on thousands of electricity-guzzling computer servers that generate bitcoin by solving complex equations. To power those servers, Greenidge uses a former coal-burning plant that was converted to natural gas in 2017 after years of disuse.
In 2022, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation denied a required air permit to the plant on the grounds that its greenhouse gas emissions ran afoul of the state’s ambitious climate goals.
In response to a lawsuit by the corporation, State Supreme Court Justice Vincent M. Dinolfo ruled Thursday that the agency had failed to give Greenidge an opportunity to justify its alleged violation, an “interpretative error” under the law.
“Transparent political bias lost today,” Greenidge said in a prepared statement. “The ruling ensures our facility will continue operating and our local employees will not have their careers ripped away by politically motivated governmental overreach that had no basis in law from the first day it began.”
A coalition of environmental groups, meanwhile, allege Greenidge is pumping millions of pounds of carbon dioxide into the air, while contaminating the
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