It's been shown that printing money and even just minting pennies takes more energy and resources than Bitcoin.
The value, trust, and portability that Bitcoin provides is worth more than ten times as much energy as we are currently putting into it.
The whole energy consumption argument in opposition to Bitcoin is totally fabricated fake news. It's the same as when economist Dr. Doom tries to tell us that it would cost $60 to buy a cup of coffee with Bitcoin. These people are overreaching as hard as they can to stop crypto from going mainstream because they know it will cripple the establishment.
The fiat currencies in Venezuela, Iran, and other middle eastern counties is already doomed. Central banks no longer have the means to hit the nuclear winter option to stop the bleeding. Fiat will continue to bleed into crypto until it finally bleeds out, starting with the weakest economies first.
You really have to wonder if these weak economies are going to come out on top because they were FORCED to transition to this superior system sooner.
I haven't seen anything backing this -- but I wouldn't be surprised if it were accurate. I think people often forget that the metal coins and paper notes they use have to literally be mined/refined/cast/processed/counted/distributed to be used -- and a similar, though different, process for paper/trees (or plastics for todays polymer based notes).
I agree with you that probably, the problem is severely overstated -- and likely for selfish reasons on the part of traditionalists / banksters. That doesn't change the fact though, that there appears to be a more sustainable solution (and like all things, probably even better solutions to come in the future).
Good chat!
Haha! Good chat indeed! Sometimes I forget I'm not even that bullish on Bitcoin. I'm holding zero Bitcoin right now and half my stake is in Steem. We are so undervalued it's not even funny.
I'll admit to being pretty ignorant about the rest of the "crypto-space"...
Throughout my life I find myself getting swept up in trends / fads / other stuff that eventually becomes popular (at least where I live). I think the fact that I'm on here, interacting with people via blog posts, polls, card games, videos, streamcasts, photos, and other stuff (as well as developing my own project) is evidence to the utility (or at least functionality) that Steem has.
It certainly seems like it's the most accessible coin/token/project out there. It might be a bit confusing, but I think that's par for the course for the entire 'crypto-space' (of which, again, I know very little about).