Actually, the idea of a bitcoin operation in the middle of a desert is maybe the only decent defense of its waste of energy I've heard. Someone harvesting sola

Actually, the idea of a bitcoin operation in the middle of a desert is maybe the only decent defense of its waste of energy I've heard. Someone harvesting solar power in the middle of the desert doesn't have to connect to any other energy grids to conduct mining, so in theory it's not driving up costs for other consumers or wasting energy that could be used for literally anything else. It'd still be a waste of the solar panels and resources though, and the setup would certainly involve some externalities with other impact. And realistically the overwhelming majority of mining operations are not doing this, so it's just smoke and mirrors by people arguing in bad faith. But I'd have much less of a problem with bitcoin if all its mining came from remote locations that would see no development otherwise, using energy harvested from the environment.