These articles about how much energy Bitcoin uses never mention the value it provides - it's a secure way to make financial transactions internationally with zero trust, relatively (compared to most other current methods) low fees and high speed. There are other ways, like the banking system, but they have their own costs associated with the security of the transactions, and their guarantees are backed by government, which don't always agree with you.

Maybe this kind of system is worth burning a lot of electricity for. It seems like the market is saying that it is.