NEW YORK (AP) — 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. ... More
