A two-year moratorium on a process of generating cryptocurrency that has come under scrutiny from environmental organizations was approved Tuesday in the state Assembly. 

The measure heads to the state Senate, where a similar bill was previously approved a year ago. 

The pause on proof-of-work cryptomining would also require the state Department of Environmental Conservation to conduct an environmental impact assessment of crypto-mining operations and how they affect the ability to meet the state’s clean and renewable energy transition requirements. 

Environmental organizations at the state level and in parts of upstate New York, like the Finger Lakes region, have pushed for better oversight of crypto-mining operations, which are meant to generate virtual coins for investment in the growing investment sector. 

At issue is the massive amount of energy needed to generate the coins and the servers that are needed to operate them. The amount of energy needed, environmental advocates argue, is at odds with New York’s goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

Some operations for the mining have been conducted out of converted power plants. 

Should proof-of-work cryptocurrency expand in New York unchecked, New York’s climate mandates would become nearly impossible to meet,” said Liz Moran, the New York Policy Advocate for Earthjustice. “According to global climate scientists, the world must rapidly move off fossil fuels and cut greenhouse gas emissions before the end of the decade to avoid climate catastrophe – but expanded proof-of-work mining would take us in the opposite direction.”

New York is required under law to transition to zero-emissions energy by 2040 and reduce greenhouse gases by 85% by 2050. 

At the federal level, a group of progressive New York House Democrats in a letter urged the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a review of the crypto-mining process.

“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,” wrote Reps. Jamaal Bowman, Adriano Espaillat, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a letter to the EPA. “Cryptocurrency mining is poisoning our communities.”