ALBANY, NY (WENY) -- Wednesday morning, Assemblywoman Anna Kelles and advocates called for Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign the crypto-currency moratorium bill that was passed back in June. And advocates who have pushed for this bill for more than a year emphasized that Climate Week is perfect and is the perfect time to sign it. 

“There are so many people across the state who are watching this bill in particular. Voters who are watching this bill in particular. The only reason to not sign it then would be political and I think that message is important to watch for," said Kelles. 

The bill will essentially partially limit certain types of proof-of-work based crypto-mining operations in New York for two years. This would apply to any operations using "behind the meter" electricity generation using fossil fuels. 

This does not impact existing operating crypto-mining operations, like Greenidge Generation in Yates County.

Last week Ethereum switched from energy-intensive proof-of-work mining to proof-of-stake, which uses less energy. Assemblywoman Kelles said this reduces Ethereum's mining energy consumption by 99.95%. 

Ethereum's co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, estimated that global energy consumption could go down by 0.2% as a result. 

“Although that sounds small, this is not even an entire industry. This is one fraction of one industry, and it had that profound of an impact," said Kelles. 

If Gov. Hochul signs the moratorium, New York would become the first state to ban certain cryptocurrency mining technology infrastructure.