All of these provide some form of value to the user. I have yet to see what value bitcoin provides over USD. Okay, so we now have another medium of exchange, so what? Why is that worth the 1000x energy consumption per transaction over payment processors like Visa?

All your examples, by the way, have gotten more and more energy efficient over the last 50 years. Bitcoin is going in the opposite direction for payment processing.

That, however, does not change the fundamental issue - the severe underpricing of emissions-heavy power generation. The externalities that the author is so worried about (in the form of climate change) are not priced into the going rate for electricity. Blaming bitcoin miners is silly - if I pay for my power, I should be able to use it however I see fit. The alternative leads to absurdity, such as a law that states your aircon may be set no lower than 22C in summer, as anything more would be "a waste". I pay for it, I use it, bugger off.

The external social cost of electricity generation needs to be internalised into the private end-cost - a carbon tax or an ETS. Pick one, follow through, and stop blaming rational agents for acting rationally.

EDIT: Spelling