Coldwater Fork News Today

BELFRY, Kentucky: In a ravine deep in the Appalachian mountains, Warren Rogers stands on the ruins of an abandoned coal-washing plant that used to prepare hundreds of tons of the fuel a day for transport through the tiny town of Belfry, Kentucky.

* Elected officials want bitcoin miners to move to Kentucky * By some estimates, Kentucky has become a national leader in bitcoin carbon emissions * Tax breaks and incentives for miners spark controversy (Adds information throughout on Kentucky State Senator Brandon Smith's involvement in Biofuel Mining Inc.) By Avi Asher-Schapiro BELFRY, Kentucky, March 15 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - In a ravine deep in the Appalachian mountains, Warren Rogers stands on the ruins of an abandoned coal-w...

It could cost Kentucky taxpayers about $9 million a year in lost tax revenue - though bitcoin proponents say that will be outweighed by the broader economic benefits the industry brings, such as jobs and out-of-state investment. Last year senator Smith briefly became the co-owner of a bitcoin mining operation in the Appalachian town of Inez.

As U.S. coal country transitions away from fossil fuels, Bitcoin miners are descending on the U.S. Appalachian mountains. But what is the economic and environmental impact of crypto moving in?