Bitcoin doesn't require these amounts of energy to operate but the current block reward / value combination incentivizes it. For example, if miners were taxed s

Bitcoin doesn't require these amounts of energy to operate but the current block reward / value combination incentivizes it. For example, if miners were taxed such that electricity were twice as expensive for them, then the amount of energy that they consume would halve, with no practical impact on Bitcoin's operation to those merely wishing to transact.