Climate Point: Hot, noisy cryptocurrency mining in Appalachia

Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to climate, energy and the environment. I'm Janet Wilson in Palm Springs, California.

Intrigued by the energy use, noise and visual blight from cryptocurrency mining, the Knoxville News Sentinel's Vincent Gabrielle and Brianna Paciorka drove back roads of southern Appalachia to document first-hand the impacts.

"We roll down our windows and it hits us immediately: the droning of hundreds of industrial fans," writes Gabrielle. "I found mines everywhere. They’re tucked into industrial parks and popping up on farms. One occupies an abandoned hotel in Jellico that is reportedly haunted. They appeared during the pandemic without much fanfare or notice, and in some cases without oversight. 

Cryptocurrency depends on a massive, distributed computer network. Mines have spread across the Southern Appalachians like mushrooms after a rain."

Cryptocurrency is supposed to be digital, not reliant on any government or bank. Instead, crypto depends on a massive, distributed computer network that runs on cryptographic algorithms. That means they need lots of power, often generated from dirty sources. 

They’re drawn to East Tennessee by cheap, reliable power, few zoning regulations, depressed local economies and the opportunity to greenwash their huge electrical footprints. Some were driven out of China after the country banned cryptocurrency transactions and mining. Others are homegrown. 

Take a look at the package to understand how a virtual reality has physical consequences.

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Must read

Infuriating. US EPA, the nation's top environmental cop, is not doing well. Staffing is down and so is enforcement; data shows 123 criminal cases opened in 2021 were barely a quarter of what they were 20 years ago, reports USA Today's Kyle Bagenstose. “We're at our lowest staff levels since the Reagan administration,” said one employee. “We've been trying to do more with less ... but you do less with less.”

Spending power is actually declining at the agency, despite promises by President Biden to reinvigorate the EPA as part of his push to tackle climate change and ease pollution in poor and minority communities, reports the Washington Post's Dina Grandoni. This month, the agency suspended monitoring for ammonia, sulfur and other pollutants at more than two dozen places across the country, citing budget constraints.

In a stinging ProPublica expose, experts say EPA and other regulators also install air monitors to flag hazardous emissions, then pull their punches against offenders. The monitors serve as a false promise to residents that they will be used to keep them safe, conclude Lisa Song and Lylla Younes.

Water ways

Dam. Swaths of northern California's sweeping cow pastures and gentle hills could be replaced by the controversial 1.5 million gallon Sites Reservoir within five years. Combined with expansion of two more reservoirs, the new storage could mean additional water to "soften the sharp edges of megadroughts" now threatening farms and cities, writes Felicity Barringer with Stanford's "& the West." 

Ashy. Wildfires are contaminating the West’s depleting water with ashy sludge. Ella Nilsen with CNN reports.

PCT runs dry. Climate scientists say the Pacific Crest Trail could become "all but impossible" to hike. It's not just forest fires and smoke — drying streams mean hikers now face stretches as long as 40 miles with no place to get water. Gregory Thomas with the San Francisco Chronicle fills us in on hotter temperatures, less snow and ice, dry springs, smoky skies and denuded forests that now define the 2,600-mile trail. 

Hot takes

Explosive. Regulators found 14 oil wells leaking potentially explosive methane in central California neighborhoods. Whistleblower says risks are wrongly being downplayed. The Desert Sun. 

Hope or hoax? Hydrogen, a cleaner fuel, could ramp up climate change if it is not made and used properly and leaks skyward, experts say. Bloomberg

Cheaper. US officials will cuts costs for sometimes controversial clean energy projects on public lands. Reuters  

Electrifying. Los Angeles voted to ban most gas appliances in new construction, joining more than 50 other California cities and counties. Los Angeles Times

Eye of the storm. The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season could threaten Florida this weekend. USA Today

Pretty in Pink. Roseate spoonbills, once near extinction, are spreading across the US, partly due to a warming climate. USA Today

And another thing

Achoo. Think allergy season is getting worse? Science says you're correct — and climate change plays a role. Researchers say North American records dating from the early 1900s show a lengthening pollen season in recent years — 18 to 21 days longer

"Climate change does have an effect on trees — how they bloom, and also, the allergenicity of the pollen is higher," said one.

That means another month of sneezes, runny noses and coughs for allergy sufferers. Margaret Smith with Wicked Local fills us in on the misery. 

That's all for this week. For more climate, energy and environment news, follow me on Twitter @janetwilson66. You can sign up to get Climate Point in your inbox for free here.