Last week, I asked Nostr (and Twitter) for the best resources about Bitcoin mining's environmental impact. The goal is to use these resources to help orange-pill an environmentally focused friend. I've reviewed everything, and here are some of the best resources🧵👇
First up: the articles. Articles are a great way to convey a specific piece of information while being both informative and including enough detail to get to the nuance. Here are many of the best articles I found on the topic:
1. #[0]'s @#[0] Bitcoin energy piece. This is a comprehensive overview of Bitcoin's energy usage, from Bitcoin's purpose to why proof of work is necessary. Well written and easy to read, this is one of the best articles on the topic.
Lyn Alden
Bitcoin's Energy Usage Isn't a Problem. Here's Why.
Updated for 2023, this report is a deep dive on Bitcoin's energy usage and long-term scaling approach, with data tables and case studies.
2. RFI Response: Climate Implications of Digital Assets by Margot Paez and Troy Cross through the Bitcoin Policy Institute.
This paper is a response to common FUD, in this case from the US government. It covers the key points and is full of links for further research.
https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/627aa615676bdd1d47ec97d4/62f41b9ce54e014f9869efa7_OSTP.docx.pdf
3. Bitcoin: Let's Start from Scratch by #[1] @#[1]
A ground up orange pill article directly aimed at the environmental side of things. One of many great articles by Daniel, but he recommends to start with this one and I agree. Check everything out on his website regardless!
Bitcoin – Let’s start from SCRATCH – Batcoinz
4. The Humanitarian and Environmental Case for Bitcoin by Alex Gladstein @#[2]
Alex Gladstein has multiple excellent articles from the humanitarian perspective of Bitcoin, and this one covers the environmental side very well too. I suggest reading all of his major pieces, and he has a book coming out that I'm very much looking forward to!
Bitcoin Magazine
The Humanitarian And Environmental Case For Bitcoin
Bitcoin can reduce aid corruption, help end dependency and bootstrap renewable energy for emerging markets.
5. Bitcoin Mining and the Environment by #[3] @#[3]
High level thoughts from #[3] on the topic of Bitcoin mining and the environment. More compact than the others, and includes references from the Bitcoin Mining Council.
Strategy
Bitcoin Mining and the Environment
Bitcoin Mining and the Environment
6. Bitcoin is a Pioneer Species by #[4] @#[4]
Another comprehensive article built around the analogy relating Bitcoin to a pioneer species in ecology. A different angle to approach the topic that I find quite compelling.
Next up are the podcast episodes, useful for people who prefer to listen to their content. Here are my favorite podcast episodes on Bitcoin's environmental impact 👇
1. Troy Cross on What Bitcoin Did - his appearances are must listen/watch for information about Bitcoin and the environment. Troy's thesis about Bitcoin and energy is well worth listening to!
He's been on the show 4 times, and all are great.
https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/troy-cross
2. Shaun Connell on What Bitcoin Did - Shaun appears once alone, and once with Troy Cross - his episodes include valuable information about how #bitcoin energy markets really work.
https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/bitcoin-energy-markets
3. Steve Barbour and Nate Harmon on What Bitcoin Did - The two have a spirited but healthy debate about climate change and Bitcoin's role in it. Good points from all sides and well worth listening to.
https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/a-climate-change-debate
4. Nate has a great episode on his own covering Bitcoin mining in the ocean using OTEC technology, highlighting an innovative use for Bitcoin mining to promote sustainable energy.
https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/bitcoin-unleashing-an-ocean-of-energy
5. Next, many great articles have been read by #[5] @#[5] on Bitcoin Audible including some already mentioned here, and further articles on the topic are also here.
You can find the articles from the podcast library and filtering for energy:
https://bitcoinaudible.com/library/
I couldn't find #[0]'s energy piece from the library, but here is the Apple Podcasts link:
Apple Podcasts
Read_550 - Bitcoin
Podcast Episode · Bitcoin Audible · 08/12/2021 · 2h 7m
Finally, I'll end with two upcoming book 📚 recommendations - I can't wait for both to be out, and I know that they both will make a great contribution to the Bitcoin environmental narrative, and addressing the environment specifically. 👇
1. The first book is The Progressive Case for Bitcoin by Jason Maier @#[6]
This book will cover common arguments against #Bitcoin by progressives, including the environmental angle.
You can hear more from Jason's appearance on What Bitcoin Did:
https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/a-progressives-case-for-bitcoin
2. Finally, Abundance Through Scarcity by Ioni Appelberg
Ioni makes wonderful animated videos, many with #[5] and Knut Svanholm, and he will be coming out with this book soon.
He has discussed the upcoming book on the Freedom Footprint Show:
Bonus: Ioni, Guy, and Knut's video Orange is the New Green is a great video take on the topic!
That's a wrap! Thanks everyone who answered the original Note and Tweet! There were so many responses, I haven't included everything here, but you can find even more resources in those conversations.
@note1pwyy83ahnh2vkkct9g6yx65szu24zldhgr4l55jwegsrkp34whzs53j4ln
X (formerly Twitter)
Luke de Wolf (@lukedewolf) on X
Twitter, I need your help! Best research about the environmental effects of Bitcoin mining please! I started the orange pill process of a good frie...
Thanks for reading, I hope this has been helpful!
Find the episode on 👇🏻
Fountain: 
This was a wonderful read on some disturbing subject matter, with an optimistic turn at the end (the titular White Pill).
I highly recommend this book. Here are some of my thoughts👇
Although it gives some earlier context and touches on related events, the White Pill is the story of the Soviet Union from its creation until its dissolution. I had been interested in this topic before so I was familiar with some parts, but there were many new things for me.
The book begins with Ayn Rand explaining the difference between life in the Soviet Union and America. Starting the book here leads with a positive note - and the rest of the book is not so positive.
Next came the history of anarchism in the 19th and early 20th centuries, including Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman. Their struggles against the state and on behalf of workers is presented compellingly. Both would eventually disavow the Soviet Union.
Another chapter in the Anarchy section was the sad story of Louis Lingg. Convicted without evidence of taking part in a bombing, he committed suicide before he could be executed. This episode especially stuck with me.
Regarding the Soviet Union, Michael Malice shows clearly how Lenin was a brutal dictator after taking control in Russia, causing mass deaths and killing indiscriminately to maintain power. History seems kinder to him than Stalin. It shouldn't be.
Then of course are many episodes involving Stalin's reign of terror. This section of the book was a real slog, reflecting the despairing circumstances that Soviet citizens lived under. Stalin's death released a palpable tension, probably as in real life.
I got the impression that this book included Gulag Archipelago Lite. That book has long been on my list to read, and surely goes into more detail than the White Pill. Nonetheless, the description of the gulag system highlighted how terrible the gulags really were.
The book turned to later events of the 20th Century, including the interplay between Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. I learned a lot here, as I was less familiar with this era. They were both introduced as overturning stale political and economic systems.
Reagan's and Thatcher's main contribution was laying the groundwork to the opening up of the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev. As terrible Stalin's time, Gorbachev's felt optimistic. Through Perestroika and Glasnost, the fall of the Soviet Union felt inevitable.
As the book came to and end the histories of other Eastern Bloc countries were covered, including Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. Their stories were no less compelling than their Soviet counterparts.
Especially emphasized was the story of Romania under dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu. He and his wife Elena brutally exploited their country. They did not give up power easily unlike the rest of the region, and they ended up being executed.
The book ends as history, with the end of the Soviet Union and the rise of Russia and other sovereign countries in its stead. The final chapter is the thesis of the book, which I'll leave to the reader, but I was personally quite moved by.
The cover figures are Ayn Rand, Emma Goldman, Margaret Thatcher, and Elena Ceausescu. The first two, Malice clearly admires. I'm not quite so sure about Thatcher, but she's portrayed positively. Ceausescu is described as evil. Powerful contrast through influential women.
The book had a knack for making allegorical comparisons to modern politics, with allusions to Ukraine paralleling the current war, concerns about the age of a US president, plenty more I'm forgetting. And every time a law was mentioned, it seemed stupid.
Overall, this was a highly enjoyable read, despite its bleak subject matter. Michael Malice is a great writer, easy to follow and humorous while highlighting the dangers of centralized power. I recommend highly.
Have you read The White Pill? If so, what did you think of it?