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Burning coal causes cancer. A lot of cancer. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/reliance-on-coal-linked-with-lung-cancer-incidence/ https://www

• arcticbull 5y ago
  Burning coal also produces a ton of radioactive waste. [1] [1] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/coal-ash-is-more-...
  • makomk 5y ago
    Depends on your definition of "radioactive waste". From the figures I've seen, coal fly ash is pretty similar to say granite in terms of overall activity and isotopic composition. It doesn't seem to enhance the concentration to the same worrying levels that say rare earth mining does, probably because the radioisotopes and all the other unwanted non-carbon trash is heavily diluted by all the carbon.
    • jnwatson 5y ago
      You don't inhale granite.
• edavison1 5y ago
  I'm sure you know this because you read the article (lol) but the plant was shuttered due to lack of energy demand. So it isn't a question of coal vs. bitcoin, it's a question of beautiful lake frontage vs. bitcoin.
• briffle 5y ago
  It was converted to natural gas a few years ago. Its quite an editorialized title.
  • arcticbull 5y ago
    Ah, I didn't realize that natural gas was a carbon-free energy source. Nothing to see here! :)
    • dntrkv 5y ago
      No, but it's an important distinction to make since NG produces half the emissions of coal for the same energy output. Using an NG plant to mine Bitcoin is stupid enough, no need to lie to make it seem even worse.
      • elite_hackers3 5y ago
        It’s not an important distinction at all, it’s a distraction.