Hundreds Turn Out For Rally Urging Governor Cuomo to Deny Greenidge Air Permit
Citing Problems for the Environment, the Economy, the State’s Stance on Climate Change; Groups Urge Immediate action
DEC Region 8 Headquarters, Avon, NY- Under the eyes and cameras of regional, national and international media, close to two hundred people, elected officials, and regional and statewide organizations gathered at the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Regional Headquarters in Avon Saturday afternoon to urge Governor Cuomo to deny the Greenidge cryptocurrency facility’s Title V air permit, which is up for renewal in September. Greenidge has already submitted its application for renewal. The once coal-fired power plant was closed for seven years until Atlas Holdings purchased the plant, retrofitted it to burn fracked gas, and the DEC simply reissued the old permits to the new facility without a new Environmental Impact Statement, which did not follow proper State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) protocol. Demonstrators stressed that the DEC failed to do its job, but that now they have an opportunity to correct that mistake by denying the Title V Air permit for the facility.
Below are quotes from speakers at Saturday’s event:
“Governor Cuomo, the whole world is watching. You cannot pose for pictures with Al Gore and make it seem like New York is a leader on climate change unless you address this climate-busting industry. You need to deny Greenidge’s Title V Air permit before this precedent setting test case serves as a model for other facilities throughout the state”, said Yvonne Taylor, Vice President, Seneca Lake Guardian.
“The fate of humanity depends on our ability to rapidly reduce our energy consumption and carbon emissions. The DEC singly has the ability in New York State through careful evaluation to prevent harmful levels of GHG emissions that will counter our climate goals. We must stand strong in our demand that combating climate change be their central concern and priority,” said Assemblymember Dr. Anna Kelles.
“We can’t allow the cryptocurrency industry to pollute our air and water and destroy our livable climate. If Governor Cuomo is at all serious about achieving the climate goals he signed into law, he must down the Greenidge power plant immediately,” said Alex Beauchamp, Northeast Region Director at Food & Water Watch.
“Cryptocurrency may be digital, but the amount of power bitcoin mining consumes is hugely polluting in real life. We cannot afford the true cost of proof of work cryptocurrency to our health, to the energy system, or to the climate. New York needs to deny the permits for projects repowering old dirty power plants.” said Lindsay Speer, Alliance for a Green Economy.
“The climate crisis is the greatest threat facing humanity. The world faces a desperate race to end greenhouse emissions as quickly as possible to give future generations a chance for a decent quality of life. It is insane to allow companies to drive up emissions solely for the purpose of creating digital currencies and enriching financial speculators. We need Governor Cuomo to halt this effort which threatens the future of life on our planet,” said Mark Dunlea, Chair of the Green Education and Legal Fund.
“Right now “proof of work” cryptocurrency mining in power plants is a town by town battle. Towns can’t stand up to these corporations, nor should they have to. DEC, state legislators, Governor Cuomo, New York needs you now, and our climate does too,” said Abi Buddington, property owner next to Greenidge facility, Dresden NY
“The wine tourism industry is inextricably linked to the health of Seneca Lake. We must protect her for future generations of farm wineries and the community of businesses which Seneca Lake binds together. Governor Cuomo has been a champion of our industry in the past, but he has to step in now or all will be lost,” said Vinny Aliperti, Governor’s Cup Winner (2016) Owner, Billsboro Winery.
“Bitcoin and its other cryptocurrency incarnations are expensive casino/Ponzi schemes that are developed by and for wealthy people to dabble in speculative money trading and in some cases conceal their illegal transactions. Greenidge Generation’s negative air and water pollution impacts add injury to insult. It is a business whose only mission is to increase wealth among the wealthy while spreading environmental destruction over the vibrant, beautiful, Finger Lakes region of NYS that is the home to thousands of small businesses. These are the best examples of private enterprise we have and they depend on a healthy watershed ecology. The Governor and his DEC need to step up and do what is right and appropriate for our collective futures,” said R. Ken Camera, Geneva City Council, 4th Ward.
“Nearly 50 underutilized or mothballed fossil fuel power plants throughout NYS like Greenidge will be targeted for proof of work cryptocurrency mining if the DEC lets them skip the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the CLCPA, and most other environmental reviews. Allowing the proposed expansion and air permit to be renewed in September for Greenidge will set off a gold rush because you can make a lot of money if you don’t have to pay to follow modern pollution control regulations. Governor Cuomo will lose his claim to be a climate leader if the biggest polluters like power plants escape meaningful regulation”, said Michael Warren Thomas, Voice of the Finger Lakes; Host, Savor Life Radio.
Link to Photos Here. (Photo credit Kelly Marciniak-Marciniak Photography)
Background: The Greenidge power plant is currently permitted by the NYSDEC to withdraw 139 million gallons of Seneca Lake water per day, and discharge 134 million gallons back into the lake via a trout stream at temperatures up to 108 degrees Fahrenheit. DEC required Greenidge to complete a thermal pollution study by 2018. That study has not yet been provided. When the facility was permitted, it was to operate solely as a peaker plant, at 6% capacity, to provide power to the public grid in times of high demand. When it later privately installed 7,900 Bitcoin machines, the plant’s air emissions increased ten-fold. This “behind the meter” power generation for private use is neither regulated by the DEC nor the Public Service Commission. Governor Cuomo enacted the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which is designed to reduce greenhouse gases. This facility alone, if left unchecked, is projected to emit over a million tons of CO2 equivalents annually at full capacity.