>If it were for me I'd force oil well operators to [....]

Maybe it's too costly for a reason? Building power lines or pipelines to the middle of nowhere has economic and environmental costs as well, so top down legislation forcing every single well to do it might result in worse overall outcomes. For instance, the resources it takes to construct a pipeline/power line to the nearest town might be more than the electricity/methane that can be generated from the well.

> but unfortunately "regulation" of any kind is seen as a bad thing in wide parts of the US.

So you would have them be regulated out of business? Most of us in the U.S. do indeed see that as a bad thing.

If you want you can build a generator near those wells. It's just cheaper to get the energy from somewhere else, because energy is fungible. A watt is not good or evil, it's the same as any other watt. Which means crypto energy consumption can be offset just like anything else, and is exactly as evil as any other convenience - driers, for instance, or flood lights, or inefficient heating, or anything else.

Focusing on crypto in particular says more about the author than anything else.