What the frack is cryptocurrency, anyway? Should we embrace it or eschew it? Join us for a critical evaluation with cartographer Karen Edelstein, independent journalist and scholar Maura Stephens, and Seneca Lake Guardian Yvonne Taylor, who will enlighten us about who loves it, what it is, when and where it may be coming, why it’s growing so spectacularly, and how it impacts climate — and our own lives. They’ll share how communities worldwide are organizing to fight siting of CO2-belching cryptocurrency mines in their midst.

About Our Presenters

Karen Edelstein is the Eastern Program coordinator for FracTracker Alliance. She blends her backgrounds as an environmental scientist, educator, and writer with her love of cartography to create informative, accessible interactive maps that tell stories about the impacts of the oil and gas industry on human and environmental health. Karen is also active in numerous fights for a clean and sustainable environment in her home region, the Finger Lakes of New York State.

Maura Stephens is a journalist, educator, artist, and farmer. Having moved from mainstream (Newsweek, etc.) to independent media (Truthout, etc.), she believes advocacy for people and planet are professional obligations. She has written and activated on numerous issues, lately focused on related aspects of climate chaos, migration, food security/sovereignty, human rights, media reform, education, and organizing. Maura is a member of System Change Not Climate Change’s coordinating committee and editorial board.

Yvonne Taylor is a speech-language therapist working with disabled young people and the vice president of all-volunteer Seneca LakeGuardian, a Waterkeeper Alliance Affiliate. In the latter role Yvonne has worked for more than a decade to preserve and protect the Finger Lakes region of New York State from predatory corporations seeking to exploit natural resources for private financial gain.