Yvonee Taylor, Co-Founder & Vice President of Seneca Lake Guardian, and President of the National Coalition Against Cryptomining, has been named to the Grist 50.
Each year, Grist recognizes 50 leaders and innovators driving bold climate solutions in the country. Yvonne’s inclusion on this list is a powerful testament to her unwavering commitment to protecting our communities and climate.
The full article can be found on Grist.org
This longtime environmental advocate is leading the fight against cryptomining
Growing up in the Finger Lakes region of New York state instilled in Yvonne Taylor a profound appreciation for nature. So whenever she hears about a potentially polluting facility setting up shop near her home, she acts on it.
Taylor, the co-founder and vice president of the nonprofit Seneca Lake Guardian, has been instrumental in many major climate actions in New York: securing a statewide ban on fracking, shutting down a gas storage and transport hub in the Finger Lakes, banning the construction of new waste incinerators near the region’s watershed, and more. Among her most recent endeavors, Taylor is taking on the cryptocurrency industry.
A shuttered coal-fired plant near Taylor’s home has been repurposed to fuel cryptomining operations. Much like artificial intelligence, cryptomining requires brute-force computing power, consuming massive amounts of electricity and millions of gallons of water a day. The waste heat produced by these facilities is also raising lake temperatures and endangering vital fisheries, and the fans used to cool them produce noise pollution that Taylor describes as “living next to a jet engine.”
While it has been an uphill battle, Taylor has brought attention and informed public discourse around the issue, including turning out dozens of community members for protests and defeating bills that would have allowed unregulated cryptomining in the state. She’s also looking beyond New York. In 2022, Taylor launched the National Coalition Against Cryptomining, a group that has spread across 22 U.S. states advocating for strict federal and state regulations against the rapidly growing industry.
“It’s overwhelming,” she said. “But I believe that we have to keep moving in the right direction and stand up for what is right and keep fighting regardless.”
