New York Crypto Mining Bill Dies in Assembly After Passing State Senate

State legislators in New York have failed to pass an environmental protection bill that would have clamped down on new and expanding bitcoin mining operations.

• Sources familiar with the matter confirmed to CoinDesk that opposition from union groups, specifically the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, led to the bill's demise. It died Thursday with the closing of the current legislative session.
• The original bill proposed in the New York State Legislature by Senator Kevin S. Parker (Brooklyn) would have enacted a freeze on new mining endeavors in accordance with the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019.
• A modified version passed the state Senate earlier this week.
• If passed, the bill would have required scrutiny of the environmental impact of current mining operations in the state. 
• The bill was proposed as an inactive coal plant in upstate New York has recently been recommissioned as a plant fueling Greenidge’s mining apparatuses with 19 megawatts of natural gas.
• Although environmental goals are at stake with the bill’s failure to pass, profitable mining plants such as Greenidge have increasingly been making commitments to a future of carbon neutral mining. 

Daniel Nelson contributed reporting.