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Some miners are promising more climate-friendly operations, but research shows the industry is a long way from putting that into practice By Kaylee Tornay / InvestigateWest The word “sustainable” features prominently on the website for Merkle Standard’s crypto mining operation in remote eastern Washington, which aims to be carbon neutral by year’s end. In Idaho, budding company GeoBitmine plans to meet its “environmental, social and governance mandate” by using heat waste from its computers to grow crops in a greenhouse. And in Texas, crypto miners trumpet their presence as eager customers of a growing portfolio of wind and solar power projects. Across the country, cryptocurrency miners are striving to remake the image of their industry in the public’s and policymakers’ minds: from flighty to reliable, from all about profit to altruistic, from energy guzzling and emissions heavy to climate conscious. “We want to be allies, not adversaries,” said Jay Jorgensen, founder and CEO of GeoBitmine, the Idaho company. “Allies of the earth, of energy, of energy production, of the community we’re in.” But environmental groups and researchers are skeptical. They point to the industry’s track record of contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and e-waste, as documented by federal agencies and independent researchers, and to the general volatility of crypto’s first decade-plus of existence. “I think there’s been a big shift in the public relations aspect,” said Nick Thorpe, climate and energy advocate with Earthjustice, an environmental law nonprofit that produced a sweeping report in 2022 on the crypto mining industry’s environmental liabilities. “(They’re) attempting to say all of the various talking points, like ‘We incentivize renewable energy … We’re near a wind farm so therefore we’re getting 100% clean energy,’ which, frankly, is incredibly misleading and very much like greenwashing.” Voices from both camps are clamoring for the ear of state and federal policymakers who are just beginning to form regulations around the nascent industry. The ongoing question is whether crypto mining will hinder or help progress toward transitioning the country away from fossil fuels and stabilizing the nation’s electrical infrastructure. Based on the industry’s history, even some crypto miners are striking a cautious tone. “(With) the pace of movement, plus the frankly irresponsible nature of many of the participants, it would be illogical for policymakers to not be concerned,” said Malachi Salcido, a Wenatchee-based bitcoin miner with a decade of experience in the industry. “The way that will change is not by arguing or entering into conflict. It’s by managing loads responsibly over time, taking strategic long-term positions and earning trust.”  Chief Operating Officer Monty Stahl shows off the servers at the Merkle Standard cryptocurrency mining facility in Usk, Wash. (Erick Doxey/InvestigateWest)
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