Pennsylvania Group Says Crypto-Mining Causes Local Pollution (1)

Nonprofit organization Save Carbon County sued Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), state agencies, and crypto and power companies over alleged pollution stemming from mining cryptocurrency.

“Crypto-mining is an energy-guzzling operation involving massive banks of high-powered computers that race against other, similarly energy-demanding crypto-seeking operations,” the Pennsylvania group told the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

The group claimed that crypto-mining company Stronghold Digital Mining, along with its fellow-defendant subsidiaries, generates and consumes its own electricity by burning waste coal and old tires, “polluting the environment and harming neighbors.”

Stronghold allegedly acquired the Panther Creek power plant in 2021 and has operated ...