Bitcoin mines cash in on electricity — by devouring it, selling it, even turning it off — and they cause immense pollution. In many cases, the public pays a price.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, facing rising public wrath, on Thursday declared a “state of disaster” and pledged to end an energy crisis that threatens economic and political stability.
The tiny country, starved of natural gas and electricity because of the conflict in neighboring Ukraine, is confronting street rallies bankrolled by a pro-Russian politician to target its pro-Western government.
Threatened by stronger storms and a melting permafrost, Indigenous Alaskans are grappling with how to keep the power running to their freezers, which store their traditional subsistence foods.
