Three United States lawmakers have introduced legislation that would direct the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, to report on the energy usage and environmental impact of crypto miners.
In a Dec. 8 announcement, California Representative Jared Huffman and Massachusetts Senate Ed Markey said they were โsounding the alarmโ the energy use from crypto mining in the United States, claiming that Bitcoin (BTC) miners accounted for roughly 1.4% of the countryโs electricity consumption. Together with Senator Jeff Merkley, the lawmakers introduced the Crypto-Asset Environmental Transparency Act, aimed at instructing the EPA to report on mining activity consuming more than 5 megawatts.
โGranting this industry impunity to inflict such environmental harm runs counter to numerous federal policies, and we need to understand the full harm this industry presents,โ said Huffman. โMy bill with Senator Markey will require cryptomining facilities to report their carbon dioxide emissions, as well as a detailed interagency study on cryptoโs environmental impacts โ finally pulling the curtain back on this industry.โ
Itโs time we pull back the curtain on cryptoโs harmful environmental impacts.
Today, @SenMarkey and I introduced a bill to get the transparency we need for oversight and accountability in this industry.https://t.co/6jzDrRyIq1
โ Rep. Jared Huffman (@RepHuffman) December 8, 2022
Markey and Huffman cited concerns over climate change as part of their reasons to expeditiously act in regulating the crypto industry. A draft of the bill included claims of โnoise and water pollutionโ caused by miners.
Scott Faber, the Environmental Working Groupโs senior vice president for government affairs, voiced support for the legislation, calling proof-of-work cryptocurrencies โwasteful by designโ and claiming BTC and other tokens would incentivize miners to use more electricity:
โThe recently completed ethereum merge and past code changes show that transformation by the bitcoin community is possible โ the way weโve all adapted to new ways of powering our homes and cars and how we grow our food […] Every industry, including the financial sector, can reduce its electricity use and greenhouse gas emissions. Adding more electricity demand โ as proof of work mining will ultimately require โ sends us in the wrong direction.โ
Related: BTC energy use jumps 41% in 12 months, increasing regulatory risks
Despite the Ethereum blockchain transitioning from proof-of-work to the less energy intensive proof-of-stake in 2022, many U.S. lawmakers have continued to target cryptocurrencies for electricity consumption. In October, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren joined six other members of Congress in requesting information from the head of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas on the energy usage and potential environmental impact of crypto miners.
