We could also use this energy for better things than Bitcoin.
And while BTC doesn't make any value besides moving money from one person to another, it also produces hardware garbage like ASIC chips and power supply.
It also steals demand from others too.
There is only downside for most of us than benefit of allowing Bitcoin mining independent of it's source.
If there are landfills out there that are just spewing methane gas (20x worse than CO2, btw) into the atmosphere, why not make sure that is burned and used more efficiently? Please show me a realistic plan to do this. Bitcoin does it without forcing anyone and without taxes directed towards it.
Where are landfills too remote to transport electricity away from?
In the US 70% of the methane from landfills is vented, rather than flared. That means that for some reason, either it's too expensive to do or something else is blocking this. And that's just the US.
You can also imagine that landfills in the developing world are better targets. Infrastructure is not as good there as it is in the US or in Europe.
Easy to solve with laws. Shouldn't be allowed anyway to just pick the good things from a gas field...
It's not a gas field, it's a land fill.