Both sides are claiming victory after New York State Supreme Court Judge Vincent Dinolfo’s ruling (see below) over the DEC’s action to deny Greenidge Generation’s application renewal of a Title V Air Permit.
The ruling confirmed the state agency has the authority to deny permits and permit renewals for greenhouse gas-emitting, fossil-fueled operations that violate New York’s climate law. However, Judge Dinolfo stated in Greenidge’s case, the DEC acted in a manner that was both affected by errors of law and arbitrary and capricious. The Court also affirmed DEC’s finding that Greenidge’s emissions were inconsistent with New York’s climate law. Judge Dinolfo will allow Greenidge to return to the lower administrative court to provide evidence that it should continue in its Dresden operation.
After the ruling was issued, Greenidge said it would continue its operations uninterrupted and released the following statement:
“Transparent political bias lost today. Facts and the rule of law won. The ruling ensures our facility will continue operating and our local employees will not have their careers ripped away by politically motivated governmental overreach that had no basis in law from the first day it began.
“The Climate Act is a good and well-intended law, but it did not give DEC political appointees and bureaucrats the power to rewrite a statute and unilaterally decide for themselves the value of working-class New Yorkers’ jobs. They tried hard, in concert with their allies in the advocacy community for whom truth was a bridge too far, but no amount of spin could change that fact.
“The damage caused to our company and employees by the recklessness of the DEC and all those who lied about our operation is real, and today the Court set the record straight – we were right, and the state and its allies were wrong.
“This is the seventh court ruling on Greenidge’s operation – with seven decisions in favor of Greenidge. Why? Because when actual judges rule — not DEC political actors — the facts and law govern, and our record is clear: we comply with state and federal law.
“DEC wanted a virtue-signaling result: to shut down a facility with no material impact on reaching Climate Law goals and one that offered significant emissions mitigation consistent with Climate Act aims. So they tried to short-circuit the process to get to their pre-determined outcome – and they got caught.
“This decision highlights the growing importance of data center operations – whether supporting AI, digital currency, cloud computing, or other high-tech businesses – and how we can bring modern career paths to Upstate New Yorkers, who have waited far too long for the opportunity.
“Our facility shows this region can create future-focused data center jobs and economic activity by utilizing power behind the meter – and provide power to the electrical grid everyday – while also meeting the state’s ambitious climate goals.
“Going forward, we hope the DEC will listen to the Court and begin working collaboratively with Greenidge to finalize a new permit, consistent with the court’s rebuke of the State’s decision and for the benefit of New York State.”
Opponents of Greenidge’s operations also reacted to Thursday’s decision.
“While I’m relieved by the precedent set by today’s decision, I’m infuriated that Greenidge can continue to operate while the case goes back to administrative court. The cryptomining operation has been sucking up millions of gallons of water a day from Seneca Lake and dumping it back in at dangerously hot temperatures,” said Yvonne Taylor, vice president of Seneca Lake Guardian. “For years, Greenidge has been polluting local air and spewing climate-warming greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. It’s absurd that Greenidge is still operating, and we will keep fighting until the facility is shut down.”
“Today’s ruling confirms what we’ve known all along: that the DEC has the statutory authority under New York’s climate law to deny Greenidge the air permit that allows it to power its cryptomine,” said Lisa Perfetto, a senior attorney in the Clean Energy Program at Earthjustice.
“Not only was Greenidge trying to overturn the prior DEC decisions, it was also trying to decimate New York’s monumental climate law,” said Kate Bartholomew, Atlantic Chapter Chair, Sierra Club. “I’m heartened that the court saw through the out-of-state polluter’s erroneous claims in this case. I am disgusted by how much this polluter is allowed to abuse the legal system and to continue operating as it aggressively litigates its weak claims.”
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