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Is noise the biggest issue at the crypto mining site in Glencoe, Minn.? ("Crypto is a headache next door," Oct. 2.) A potentially greater concern appears to be crypto mining's use of energy. From the article: "A new crypto mining operation in Jamestown, N.D., a city of about 16,000 residents, will use twice as much energy as the entire city." Further: Cities and power companies throughout the Upper Midwest "are hoping to cash in on crypto mining," and "for a power utility, a crypto mine can be a gold mine."
Why is there a rush to support a fledgling industry whose contribution to the world is as yet unclear, and meanwhile it drastically increases the production and use of electricity? I saw no mention of renewable sources that will support production of this energy. The science is clear: Our climate crisis, with rapidly increasing temperatures, is fueled, in part by the increased use of energy, most of it generated by fossil fuels.
In the face of the climate crisis, my neighbors and I have been exploring options to reduce our global footprint and the emissions produced from the electricity and other energy we consume. Can someone explain how crypto mining, with its massive increase in production and use of electricity, is a good thing? Could it be a moneymaking scheme to benefit a few at the expense of many?
Susan Sisola, Minneapolis
CHALBERG ON MENCKEN
Let's take this further
John C. "Chuck" Chalberg's screed on public education ("A voice from the past on education and its failings," Opinion Exchange, Oct. 2) might have been better served with a few more quotes from his resident expert, H.L. Mencken, who tersely explained why he chose to write: "I write in order to attain that feeling of tension relieved and function achieved, which a cow enjoys on giving milk."
Considering the merits of the arguments presented, he might have added this gem, "American journalism (like the journalism of any other country) is predominantly paltry and worthless. Its pretensions are enormous, but its achievements are insignificant." As to why Chalberg chose the newspaper as his medium, Mencken might have remarked, "A newspaper is a device for making the ignorant more ignorant and the crazy crazier."