New York Bill Could Ban Crypto Mining for 3 years over harm to Carbon Footprint

A New York Bill is seeking to prohibit crypto mining in the state for three years. This bill was proposed by the Environmental Conservation Committee in the state.

Crypto miners in the state of New York are about to be affected by a three-year ban on mining activities. The bill, if passed by the Senate, is aimed at protecting the environment.

The 6486 New York Senate Bill was introduced by the chairman of the Committee on Energy and Telecommunications, Kevin Parker. It was also heavily supported by Democrat senators, including Rachel May of the Legislation Commission on Rural Resources. The bill has not yet gained substantial grounds in the Senate, but it is being led by Democrats, who have dominance in the Senate and the lower house.

Reducing environmental effects of crypto mining

The New York Bill proposes the regulation of crypto mining activities in the state. This focuses on slowing the environmental damage of crypto mining that significantly harms the carbon footprint.

The bill also seeks to demand more compliance from crypto mining centers. The centers will have to undergo a review to evaluate the damage of their mining activities to the environment. If a center is non-compliant with the climate change targets in New York, the facility would be banned from crypto mining.

The New York Bill was introduced on May 3 by the Environmental Conservation Committee. The committee seeks to enforce the proposals laid out by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The bill stated that one crypto transaction uses energy equivalent to what an average American household uses monthly.

A hot topic

Crypto mining has been a heated debate in New York. A gas-powered Bitcoin plant by Greenbridge is looking to power 27,000 computers that will run around the clock for Bitcoin mining. This has caused outrage from environmentalists who state that the proposal will lead to more carbon emissions that harm the carbon footprint.

The world has also been looking into regulating Bitcoin mining to achieve the desired levels of carbon footprint. China is hugely more focused on Bitcoin mining. The country accounts for around 65% of the hashing power for Bitcoin globally.

Towards the end of April, Beijing issued an emergency notice stating random checks on mining data centers in the country. This move was seen as a way of increasing supervision in the industry. This comes amidst concerns that crypto mining in the country had made China rank behind in meeting the five-year climate change plan.