GENEVA — Dozens of concerned citizens, business owners, and elected officials met in the Finger Lakes and Albany Friday to urge the state Department of Environmental Conservation to deny Greenidge Generation’s request for renewal of its Title V (air) permit, with modifications.
The groups at the Finger Lakes Welcome Center and in the state capital called on Gov. Kathy Hochul to place a statewide moratorium on proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining until an environmental review can be conducted.
In Geneva, a letter presented to the DEC and Hochul and signed by nearly 500 members of the Finger Lakes Wine Business Coalition and the Seneca Lake Guardian Business Coalition expressed how the Greenidge facility in Dresden could damage the winemaking industry, local businesses, and tourism in the Finger Lakes.
The Geneva event featured a number of speakers, including Seneca Lake Guardian President Joseph Campbell; At-Large town of Seneca Falls Supervisor Paul Kronenwetter of the Seneca County Board of Supervisors’ Environmental Affairs Committee; and a number of Finger Lakes winemakers and industry leaders.
“The whole world is watching to see how New York responds to the environmental threat of proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining,” Campbell said. “Gov. Hochul and the DEC have an opportunity to either uphold our climate goals, or fall victim to this energy-intensive cryptocurrency that will wreak havoc on New York communities. We call on them to immediately deny Greenidge’s permit and look into measures to study the environmental impacts of this industry before it’s too late.”
“We’ve been doing our part to get off fossil fuels since 2015, when Finger Lakes Wine Country received the Solar Energy Champion Award from the Solar Energy Industries Association,” said Phil Davis, co-founder and vineyard manager of Damiani Wine Cellars. “It would be devastating to fall backwards simply because of one industry with no public benefit.”
