These energy/CO2 costs existed before crypto. The carbon footprint of something like Bank of America or VISA are not zero, it's just that we are more comfortable accepting these as "productive" because they're way less direct. For example, the CO2 cost of heating the Bank of America tower in Manhattan during the winter or cooling it in the summer feels different than the energy consumed by various mining rigs.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if crypto was actually way more efficient energy-wise than the centralized institutions that are needed to support the current system.