[johbjo]

> Price the electricity accordingly, and make PoW impossible.

The problem is that other productive things are priced out before "mining".

The environmental cost will be born either way, but mining is by definition not productive. It has been profitable to some people, but it is destructive to civilisation altogether.

[betwixthewires]

Mining is absolutely productive, as a secondary effect of course. The process creates potential money that is impossible to counterfeit. This simply did not exist before, maintaining that is of enormous value.

Of course, if this can be done without ongoing expenditure that would be better.