Pennsylvania “Green Amendment” Gets Dragged in Crypto Mining Pollution Case

Environmentalists in Pennsylvania have sued over purported pollution from crypto mining, using the state’s “green amendment”. According to Bloomberg Law, the law has “has brought the long-standing constitutional wording into new realms.

Pennsylvania “Green Amendment” Act

According to Aaron Freiwald, managing partner of Freiwald Law PC and lead attorney for plaintiff Save Carbon County, the case filed on March 25 is believed to be the first in the US against crypto mining that references a state’s constitutional right to a clean environment. The state and Stronghold Digital Mining Inc. are named as defendants in the complaint.

The lawsuit, which was submitted to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, focuses on a particular section of the Natural Rights Amendment of Pennsylvania, which names all citizens of the state as beneficiaries and the state government as the trustee of natural resources. In environmental matters, the governor of Pennsylvania and its agencies must prioritize the needs of people before those of companies.

Read Also: Historic $2 Billion Bitcoin Moved by US Government to Coinbase

Crypto Mining Sees a Surge

After a near-death experience during the most recent crypto winter, Bitcoin miners are back in survival mode ahead of a code update that might imperil revenue streams. They are using energy at a rate never seen before.

Crypto mining consumed a record 19.6 gigawatts of power last month, up from 12.1 gigawatts in 2023, according to a Coin Metrics assessment. Based on a computation by CoinGape, the figure indicates a rise of more than 61%.

Bitcoin Mining Paces Up Before Halving

In the context of cryptocurrencies, halving is the quadrennial process of cutting in half the quantity of newly issued coins. As a result, miners’ block incentives are reduced by half. Generally speaking, the halving of bitcoins helps manage supply and demand so that a bitcoin’s scarcity could increase its value.

In general, when Bitcoin is halved, a demand-supply relationship is created, making consistent mining of Bitcoins more crucial. Given the ongoing demand for Bitcoin in such a scenario, the hash rate after the halving might experience a spike. When the original coin is scarce, investors are also more willing to pay outrageous sums for a small part of asset exposure.

Read Also: Bitfarms Acquires 87,796 Miners as Halving Race Deepens