U.S. legislators urge the EPA to investigate whether crypto mining is environmentally legal

Ana
Nicenko

FINBOLD.COM

Concerns over the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining have been in the limelight for some time now among lawmakers around the world, including those in the United States, who have recently written on the matter to the country’s environmental agency.

Indeed, a group of 23 U.S. legislators, led by a member of the U.S. House of Representatives Jared Huffman, have asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to analyze whether crypto mining firms were adhering to the country’s environmental protection laws.

Specifically, they voiced their “serious concerns” in a letter addressed to EPA Administrator Michael Regan on April 20, including those that crypto mining companies in the U.S. might be operating without compliance with the laws such as the Clean Air Act or the Clean Water Act.
Concerns over crypto mining

According to the letter, the signatories are concerned worried that the “cryptocurrency mining is poisoning our communities” and that:


“Efforts are currently underway to re-open closed gas and coal facilities to power the cryptocurrency industry and undermine our battle to combat the climate crisis. While some facilities claim to be “cleaner” by creating energy from coal refuse, these coal-fired power plants still emit hazardous air pollutants and leak toxic contaminants into our waterways.”


In particular, they are concerned about “the inherently energy-inefficient “Proof-of-Work (PoW) mining technology to validate transactions,” used by cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Monero (XMR), and Zcash (ZEC).
What do they suggest?

In order to resolve this perceived problem, the letter signatories, one of whom is progressive politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, believe that:


“The rapidly expanding cryptocurrency industry needs to be held accountable to ensure it operates in a sustainable and just manner to protect communities.”

Therefore:

“We request that the EPA evaluate PoW mining facilities’ compliance with environmental statutes (…) and engage with the communities when reviewing permits. Further, we ask that the EPA investigate and address any harm these existing PoW facilities are causing communities including, but not limited to, ensuring that electronic waste is responsibly disposed of, and noise pollution is abated.”


Furthermore, they suggested that:

“Less energy intensive cryptocurrency mining technologies, such as “Proof-of-Stake” (PoS), are available and have 99.99 percent lower energy demands than PoW to validate transactions.”
PoW vs. PoS

Elsewhere, legislators around the world are starting to focus more on the potential environmental impact of PoW mining and begin to explore the use of the PoS mechanism instead.

In mid-March, Finbold reported on the ban that the European Union Parliament was considering that would force cryptocurrencies running under the PoW mechanisms to shift to more environmentally friendly mechanisms, such as PoS. However, the members voted against it.

That said, some networks are working hard to make the switch from the PoW to the PoS. One of them is Ethereum, which has announced its Merge update for later this year, enabling it to officially move to the PoS mechanism.

Protest planned on Haitian Labor Day to increase minimum wage

BY THE HAITIAN TIMES

APR. 22, 2022

Textile workers protesting for better pay in Port-au-Prince in February 2022. Photo credit: Pensa Latina


PORT-AU-PRINCE — Two unions representing factory workers and security guards plan to hold a two-day protest on May 1, Haiti’s Agricultural and Labor Day in Haiti, and May 2 to demand a minimum wage increase.

“May 1 in Haiti is not a commemoration for Labor Day, but of unemployment,” said Jean Wilgens Charles, head of Esklav Revolte or Rebelious Slave. “We call out on all citizens to protest against the high cost of living, hunger, misery and insecurity.”

During a news conference Apr. 21 at the offices of ESPM-BO workers rights group, organizers said the protest will start at 9:00 a.m. at the National Society of Industrial Park (SONAPI) and march via Airport Road to the National Old Age Insurance Office (ONA).

Demonstrators will also go to the prime minister’s office through Delmas 48 to chide him for not keeping his promises to provide social assistance and debit cards to workers.

In February, thousands of workers took to the streets to demand a minimum wage of 1,500 Gourdes, about USD $13, a day. They said the increase is necessary to cope with inflation and afford basic necessities that have become so expensive since fuel prices increased.

The Haitian government increased the minimum wage to 685 Gourdes, about $6, for subcontractors, but the unions insist on the higher amount.

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DOG BITES MAN IS NOT NEWS
Arrest after man bites dog in California

The dog, named Cort, was taken to a veterinary hospital for treatment and is now recovering at home with its handler

The man appeared to be under the influence of drugs, according to Fairfield police.

FRI, 22 APR, 2022 - 09:15
AP REPORTERS

A man allegedly bit and stabbed a police dog in Northern California as officers tried to take him into custody, US authorities have said.

The man appeared to be under the influence of drugs, according to Fairfield police.

The dog, named Cort, was taken to a veterinary hospital for treatment and is now recovering at home with its handler.

Officers were initially called to an elderly victim’s home on Wednesday afternoon following a report of a burglary, the police department said in a Facebook post.

The department then received a report from an Amazon employee, who said the man had threatened to kill him and steal his delivery truck.

Officers found the man, 44, running around inside the first victim’s home. They tried and failed to get him to come outside.

When police and the K9 dog went inside the house, the dog made “contact” with the man; authorities did not provide further information about what occurred during the contact.

The man then allegedly bit the dog in the face and stabbed the animal on its left side with a knife, police said.

The man was treated in hospital for unspecified injuries.

It is not clear if the injuries were related to the dog or the alleged drug use.

He was booked into the Solano County Jail on suspicion of car-jacking, burglary, harming a police dog and obstructing or resisting a public officer.

He also faces a parole violation, online jail records show.

The city of Fairfield is nearly 50 miles north-east of San Francisco.

IN JOURNALISM 101 YOU LEARN THAT A DOG BITES MAN IS NOT A NEWS STORY

BUT IF A MAN BITES A DOG THAT NEWS

Al-Aqsa: At least 75 Palestinians injured as Israel storms mosque

The New Arab Staff
22 April, 2022


At least 75 Palestinians were injured when Israeli security forces stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on Friday morning, Palestinian medics said, in the latest attack by Israel on the Muslim holy site during the month of Ramadan.

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service, 14 Palestinians were taken to the hospital, and three had serious injuries.

Witnesses said police entered the compound after the morning prayers and fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at a crowd of about 200 Palestinians, some of whom threw rocks.

Police also fired rubber bullets from a close range at a group of journalists documenting the clashes, the witnesses said. One photographer, Ali Yassin, was shot in the throat.

Jewish extremists who wish to build a temple at the site of the mosque, backed by Israeli security forces, have stormed the Al-Aqsa courtyard several times over the past week, leading to daily clashes.

Muslims attend the mosque in increasing numbers during the final 10 days of Ramadan, and an Israeli official said that Jews will be prevented from entering the site at this time.

However, Palestinians accuse Israel of attacking worshippers and allowing Jewish extremists to enter the mosque compound on a regular basis.

The New Arab is providing live updates of what's been happening on the ground and additional analysis.

Three photojournalists and seven medics were among the 75 people who were injured on Friday when Israeli forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque. They include Ali Yassin, a photographer who was shot in the throat with a rubber bullet
9:42 AM

A tree caught fire in the Al-Aqsa Mosque grounds after Israeli security forces fired tear gas grenades at worshippers. It was brought under control at around 11 am.

Dozens of Canada's wood bison moved to Alaska for long-term survival


Thu, April 21, 2022,
By Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) - Dozens of Canada's wood bison, who live in northern Alberta and are North America's largest land animals, have been moved to Alaska to establish conservation herds to ensure their long-term survival, the Canadian government said.

Canada has listed the wood bison as a threatened species since 2003. The population has been declining across their range and are at risk of becoming endangered, extirpated, or extinct if nothing is done to protect them, according to the Canadian government's website.

In January 2020, Canada determined that wood bison were "facing imminent threats to their recovery."

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced on Thursday that 40 wood bison from Elk Island National Park in Alberta were safely translocated to Alaska. Wood bison have dark brown coats with long shaggy fur on their shoulders along with large humps on their backs.

Wood bison, larger than plains bison, once ranged the boreal regions of northwestern Canada and interior Alaska. In the early 1800s, the population may have been 168,000 in Canada, according to the Canadian government.

But habitat loss and other problems took a toll. By the late 1800s, there were only a few hundred left in Canada.

The Alaska wood bison restoration project had established a wild wood bison population in western Alaska in 2015, which is currently estimated at over 100.

Within Canada, wood bison are currently found in British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon and Northwest Territories.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Bernard Orr)

ANTI DEMOCRATIC RULING

Arizona Supreme Court reinstates massive income tax cuts


FILE - Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert M. Brutinel speaks during oral arguments, in Phoenix on April 20, 2021. The Arizona Supreme Court on Thursday, April 21, 2022, ruled that the state's voters do not have the right to reject a massive income tax cut approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov, Doug Ducey last year. The order signed by Chief Justice Brutinel does not explain the court's reasoning, saying a full opinion will be released later.

(AP Photo/Matt York, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

BOB CHRISTIE
Thu, April 21, 2022,

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the state's voters do not have the right to reject a massive income tax cut approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Doug Ducey last year.

The decision means a tax cut is in effect that will hit nearly $2 billion when it is fully in place and mainly benefits the wealthy.

The high court overturned a lower court judge who ruled in favor of education advocates who collected enough signatures under the state's referendum law to block them from taking effect until voters could weigh in in November.

Lawyers for the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, a conservative pro-business group that pushes for lower taxes and regulations, argued the state constitution does not allow referrals for measures that provide for the “support and maintenance” of state government and that the tax cut bill falls into that category.

The Supreme Court agreed in a brief order issued just two days after it heard arguments in the case. The order signed by Chief Justice Robert Brutinel does not explain the court's reasoning, saying a full opinion will be released later.

The lower court judge had said that the constitutional provision only blocked referendums on bills that appropriate money, and since the tax cut bill does not do that, it is subject to voter review.

Ducey, a Republican who pushed for an expansion of the court in 2016 that has allowed him to appoint six of the seven justices, hailed the decision.

“This ruling is another big win for our state’s taxpayers and it couldn’t have come at a better time,” he said in a statement. “With inflation hitting Arizonans hard, this decision ultimately means more of their hard-earned dollars can stay in their wallets.”

Most residents won't see much help, because the vast majority of the tax cuts go to the wealthy.

The Legislature's budget analysts said the average Arizonan earning between $75,000 and $100,000 will save $231 a year in state income taxes. Meanwhile, the average taxpayer earning between $500,000 and $1 million a year will save more than $12,000, according to the Legislature’s budget analysts.

The coalition of progressive groups that backed the referendum slammed the Supreme Court for “stripping the rights of everyday Arizonans, in an attempt to protect the rich.”

"The ballot was Arizona’s last line of defense from the Ducey-packed Supreme Court – today that defense has fallen," said the statement from two groups backing Invest in Arizona. “Despite the explicit and strong language of the Arizona Constitution granting the people a co-equal right to legislate, they have been shut out."

The Arizona Center for Economic Progress and the Children's Action Alliance said voters have repeatedly backed measures that boosted school funding, child care and other progressive causes, only to have them blocked by the high court or erased by the Legislature. Earlier this year, a Supreme Court decision led to the demise of a tax on the wealthy designed to fund schools that voters approved in 2020.

That came after lawmakers passed a law during last year's session that would have cut the expected $900 million in funding by more than half.

Free Enterprise Club President Scot Mussi called the Supreme Court ruling a “big win for taxpayers.”

"Invest in Arizona and out-of-state special interest groups need to accept this reality and stop making a farce of the referendum process,” Mussi said in a series of tweets.

Arizona's constitution lets voters block newly enacted laws by collecting signatures from 5% of qualified voters. If they do, the law is put on hold until the next general election.

Lawmakers at the Capitol were split along party lines, just as they were last year when majority Republicans who hold bare majorities in the House and Senate enacted the tax cuts with no Democratic support.

House Majority Leader Rep. Ben Toma said the decision provides clarity and certainty, and means tax historic relief is not in effect. Sen. Rebecca Rios, who leads minority Democrats in her chamber, said she was “disappointed to say the least.”

“A true Democracy should have no problem allowing this to go before the voters of Arizona,” Rios said in a statement. “Republicans continue to attack our schools, teachers and students, despite a majority of Arizonans making it clear time and time again that they want meaningful investments in our public schools.”

Republicans were planning on getting around the referendum by repealing the tax cuts and enacting larger ones, but that will no longer be necessary.

Under the new law, rates for most taxpayers would drop to a flat 2.5%, and revenue would be cut by $1.9 billion once the tax cuts are fully in place. That’s down from a range of 2.59% to 4.5%. Arizona's state budget this year. Arizona's current budget is $12.8 billion.

TIME FOR INDEPENDENCE
Supreme Court votes 8-1 to exclude Puerto Ricans from federal benefits

Members of the Supreme Court voted on Thursday in an 8-1 opinion that Congress can exclude Puerto Rican residents from some of the federal benefits accessible to people living in the 50 U.S. states. File Pool Photo by Erin Schaff/UPI | License Photo


April 21 (UPI) -- On Thursday, the United States Supreme Court ruled in an 8-1 opinion that Puerto Rican residents can be excluded from some of the federal benefits accessible to people living in the 50 U.S. states.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a daughter of Puerto Rican-born parents, dissented from the opinion written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The court examined whether Supplemental Security Income available to low-income Americans over 65 or who are blind and disabled would also include those in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories.

The SSI makes monthly payments to qualified people living in the 50 states, the District of Columbia or the Mariana Islands.

Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917.

"In devising tax and benefits programs, it is reasonable for Congress to take account of the general balance of benefits to and burdens on the residents of Puerto Rico," Kavanaugh wrote in the opinion, CNN reported.

"In doing so, Congress need not conduct a dollar-to-dollar comparison of how its tax and benefits programs apply in the States as compared to the territories, either at the individual or collective level," he wrote.

Sotomayor said that citizens' equal treatment shouldn't be left to "the vagaries of the political process," according to CNN.

"Because residents of Puerto Rico do not have voting representation in Congress, they cannot rely on their elected representatives to remedy the punishing disparities suffered by citizen residents of Puerto Rico under Congress' unequal treatment," Sotomayor wrote.

The case involved a $28,000 dispute involving Puerto Rican-born Jose Luis Vaello-Madero, who lived in New York from 1985 to 2013.

After a stroke in 2012, Vaello-Madero was able to receive disability payments, but he moved back to Puerto Rico in 2013, where he continued receiving the payments.

The U.S. government, upon finding out he'd left the 50 states, told him he owed $28,081 in back pay and that his benefits would cease.

His lawyers argued the exclusion violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution's 14th Amendment.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Vaello-Madero on the issue.

As Puerto Ricans are exempt from federal taxes, the Biden administration has defended the exclusion, CNN reported.

 Nfld. & Labrador

NAPE, Choices for Youth reach tentative deal to end strike

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The 9 workers went on strike March 15

CBC News · Posted: Apr 21, 2022 

Members of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees at Choices For Youth in St. John's began striking in mid-March. (Jeremy Eaton/CBC)

Choices for Youth and its unionized workers have reached a tentative agreement to end a five-week strike that affected a youth shelter in downtown St. John's. 

The nine workers — members of the the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees — have been on strike since March 15. 

The workers are employees of the Lilly, a 14-unit congregate living supportive housing facility that Choices for Youth has operated for more than a decade. 

"This is a first collective agreement for a group of workers who chose NAPE close on two years ago now," union president Jerry Earle told CBC News on Thursday morning.

"We've built a collective agreement basically from the foundation up."

The tentative deal includes a monetary increase, retroactive pay and improvements in contract language. Details of the deal have not been publicly released, as they need to go to NAPE members first. 

The deal, which was made around 9:30 p.m. NT Wednesday, will address some key concerns, Earle said.

Choices for Youth and members of NAPE reached a tentative agreement Wednesday night. (Jeremy Eaton/CBC)

"This is a group that has not seen any type of raise in 12 years. We all know what's happening with the cost of living," he said.

"You can imagine now trying to live on an income that you were earning 12 years ago. Unfortunately there's a number of people in Newfoundland and Labrador living like that. So we worked quite vigorously to try to change that."

One of the bigger problems the union had was when Choices for Youth offered a compensation increase last year to its employees but not to those represented by the union, Earle said.

He said it was a clear message sent by the non-profit organization of consequences for joining the union.

In a media release sent Thursday morning, Choices for Youth said it's pleased to have reached a tentative agreement.

• Choices for Youth workers on strike in clash over collective agreement

• Union president says striking Choices for Youth workers are prepared to ramp up job action

"Our objective since Day 1 has been on getting a fair deal that aligns with our principle of equity and fairness across the organization," the release reads. "We have respected both the process and our employees' rights, and we look forward to welcoming our Lilly staff back to work soon."

Earle said he hopes a ratification vote will happen within the next day or two.

Hydrogen-electric HY4 passenger aircraft sets altitude record

By David Szondy
April 20, 2022

The HY4 in flight
H2FLY

Stuttgart-based German aerospace company H2FLY has claimed a new world record for its four-seater HY4, which became the first hydrogen-powered passenger aircraft to reach an altitude above 7,000 ft (2,134 m) on April 13. In addition, the HY4 made the first flight by a hydrogen-powered passenger craft from one major airport to another, traveling 77 miles (124 km) from Stuttgart to Friedrichshafen on April 12.

First taking to the air in 2016, the HY4 with its distinctive twin-fuselage design is based on the Pipistrel Taurus G4 aircraft. However, where the G4 is an all-electric aircraft, the HY4 is a hybrid design powered by a low-temperature hydrogen fuel cell system developed by the DLR Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics (DLR) in association with Hydrogenics.

To save weight, the hydrogen is stored under a pressure beneath 5,800 psi in two carbon composite tanks, one in each fuselage. These feed into the fuel cell, while lithium-ion batteries provide a power boost during moments of peak demand by the 80-kW electric motor. The aircraft has a cruising speed of 90 mph (145 km/h) and a projected range of up to 900 miles (1,500 km) under minimum payload and optimum flight conditions.

The HY4 is powered by a hydrogen-electric fuel cell system
H2FLY

"This is a remarkable achievement for H2FLY, as no other hydrogen-powered passenger aircraft has flown between two commercial airports to date," said Dr. Josef Kallo, co-founder and CEO of H2FLY. "We are also thrilled to have set what we believe to be a new world record by reaching an altitude of over 7,000 feet with our HY4 aircraft. We want to thank our long-time partners Stuttgart Airport, University of Ulm, DLR Stuttgart, Friedrichshafen Airport, and AERO Friedrichshafen, for supporting us in our mission to make sustainable travel a reality."

Looking to usher in an era of emission-free, sustainable air travel, H2FLY expects to be flying hydrogen-electric aircraft carrying up to 40 passengers distances of up to 1,240 miles (2,000 km) in "just a few years."

Why Argentina is embracing cryptocurrency

By Christine Ro
Buenos Aires

Jerónimo Ferrer created a bitcoin tour of Buenos Aires


In Argentina, there are traces everywhere of distrust and even trauma related to the economy.

For Jerónimo Ferrer, a formative memory is of Argentina's crushing financial crisis at the end of the 1990 - when bank accounts were frozen and, almost overnight, people's savings evaporated.

He's not alone. One engineering student I spoke to keeps all his savings, in US dollars, at home because he fears that the banks will again devalue holdings overnight.

While many Argentinians are, by necessity, experts on the state of the economy - from the sky-high level of inflation to the current unofficial rate of exchange between the peso and the US dollar - Mr Ferrer has gone further than most.


Since 2019, he's run a walking tour called "Our local crazy economy & Bitcoin tour of Buenos Aires", where he explains to tourists the level of restrictions Argentines face, such as limits on foreign currency transactions, or bans on payments in instalments for international flights.

BBC: What is Bitcoin - an eight step guide

He also provides a primer on cryptocurrency, especially Bitcoin, and why he believes it is a valuable alternative to the volatile and highly-controlled Argentine peso.

"When you have restrictions, you need tools for freedom," Mr Ferrer says.

For many crypto enthusiasts around the world, decentralised and digital currency is primarily about ideology or profit. But for many Argentines, it fills more basic needs.

"I trust more mathematics and software than I trust politicians," Mr Ferrer explains. "I think that Bitcoin for Argentinians should be a no-brainer."

Adverts for bitcoin products are all over Buenos Aires

There are other ways that the strong government intervention in the economy has helped cryptocurrency gain a footing in Argentina. For example, it's relatively cheap to run an energy-guzzling Bitcoin mining operation, because the cost of electricity is kept relatively low.

Bitcoin mining is the process that creates new Bitcoin. It involves computers solving complicated maths problems. Solve the problem and you are awarded Bitcoin. It sounds simple but involves elaborate computer systems, requiring lots of electricity to run and cool them.

The University of Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance estimates that globally, the electricity used in Bitcoin mining to be around 137 terawatt hours per year. That's about the same as the annual use of some countries, like Norway or Poland.

Producing that electricity will be contributing to global carbon dioxide emissions, but it is difficult to estimate how much.

However, in Argentina such environmental issues are often eclipsed by financial concerns.

For some early adopters of cryptocurrency in Argentina, even a relatively young and unpredictable currency is preferable to the extremely changeable peso.

Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, may also help to buffer against high inflation, since there's a finite amount of the currency that can be created.

Inflation, which measure how the cost of living changes over time, is an ever-present concern in Argentina. The year-on-year rate of inflation is staggering, at over 50%.

"In the pandemic, people noticed this situation, and to protect their money they chose to look for an asset that was limited," says María Mercedes Etchegoyen.

Ms Etchegoyen is a lawyer specialising in intellectual property, as well as a member of the executive committee of the NGO Bitcoin Argentina. She helped start the community Cryptogirls to tap into the increased interest in cryptocurrency during the pandemic.

So far, the government has taken a relaxed attitude to the cryptocurrency boo. "In Argentina, there is no specific regulation on cryptocurrency," says Ms Etchegoyen.

However, the Central Bank has been issuing warnings about crypto-based scams.

It has acknowledged that the level of crypto use isn't high yet, but is growing rapidly and merits concern.

María Mercedes Etchegoyen wants bitcoin to move beyond young men

Ms Etchegoyen is concerned about the uneven access to cryptocurrencies.

So far it is the preserve of a minority - largely a young, male, tech-savvy, and relatively affluent population. It's tech workers, not farmers, who are being paid in Bitcoin.

"Today it's not a technology that everyone can access," acknowledges blockchain consultant Lucia Lizardo.

Yet efforts are underway to expand the reach of crypto - partly through financial products that offer a stepping stone between traditional and cryptocurrency.

Three Argentine start-ups now offer debit cards for crypto-based transactions. One of these companies, Lemon, was founded in a Patagonian town where 40% of shops accept Bitcoin.

Some people in Argentina are also turning to "stablecoins", which are pegged to the US dollar and are therefore less prone to fluctuations in value.


The Central Bank of Argentina has warned about cryptocurrency scams

Of course, crypto will not provide a one-stop solution for Argentina's economic woes. And it brings its own problems of currency speculation, fraud, and its environmental impact.

Overall, though, "I think this is like a revolution for young people," comments Ms Lizardo.

For Mr Ferrer, the need is clear. "