Passing the CLCPA wasn’t enough; N.Y. must also enforce it

The article “Lawsuit over crypto power plant,” Jan. 16, proves the persistence of bad ideas. Cryptocurrency, an electronic ledger for anonymous digital transactions, seems like a bad idea — just an energy-intensive vehicle for speculation.

But the really, really bad idea causing this lawsuit is the Public Service Commission’s approval of the crypto-mining company Digihost’s plan to fuel its industry by operating a gas-fired power plant in North Tonawanda 24/7. This would drastically raise greenhouse gas emissions since the plant had previously been used infrequently.

By 2019, when changes in the climate had made it obvious to anyone paying attention that burning fossil fuels is a bad idea, New York passed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act to transition the state to renewable sources of energy.

Given the passage of this law, the Public Service Commission’s approval of the sale of the North Tonawanda plant to Digihost is incomprehensible. Wouldn’t the existence of the law requiring agencies to consider the environmental effects of their decisions cause the commission to reconsider a plan that uses vast amounts of energy, raises emissions and increases air pollution?

The job of a good government is to pass laws and regulations that protect citizens from bad ideas. The CLCPA does just that. The suit against the PSC over Digihost is the first test of its strength, but there will doubtless be others. We need to keep reminding our legislators that passing the CLCPA was a good idea, and that they now need to enforce it. Matthew Christian

New York City